Article excerpts:

“Agribusiness is a cornerstone of economic wealth in rural America. It’s the corn production in the Midwest, citrus in Florida, California’s diversified horticulture, and dairy in the Northeast that sustain local economies and put producers on the map for their products.

One county stands out in livestock production, particularly in cattle and lamb feedlots: Weld County, Colorado.

Located just an hour outside Denver, Weld County spans a large swath of northern Colorado along the Wyoming border. This region is home to farming towns that host some of the largest livestock operations in the country, producing 26 percent of the state’s agricultural output.

In the towns of Greeley, Fort Lupton, and Eaton, family farmers work alongside the largest players in the industry — including Cargill, JBS, and Superior Feed — to supply the market with high-quality animal protein.

Of the agricultural output from the county, four-fifths comes from livestock, according to the 2022 U.S. Department of Agriculture Census. The county holds the title as the nation’s highest producer of lamb by market value and ranks 11th in market value of agricultural products sold across 4,000 farms. In addition to livestock, Weld County produces row crops, pinto beans, and sugar beets.

Small ruminants, big status

It is the people, the western lifestyle, and the commitment of producers that have kept production local.

Catherine Harper, who has spent most of her life in Weld County, now manages Harper Feeders in Eaton. “We’ve got a pretty neat, tidy operation,” Harper said. “We take a lot of pride in what we’ve created since 1977 and continue to do here.”

The Harper feedlot operates a 65,000-head lamb operation, one of four sheep feeders in the region that use Superior Farms as their processor in downtown Denver. Started by Catherine’s grandfather, Harold Harper, the fourth-generation farm is now under Catherine’s operational management, with her father, Mike, and mother, Mary Ann, by her side.”

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