CSU Agronomy Club Crosses the Divide.

Agriculture in Colorado is highly diverse. The eastern plains primarily consists of dry land, no-till grain crops, the southern valley predominantly grows high quality alfalfa, potatoes, and barley under sprinkler irrigation, and the western slope mainly farms fruits, corn, and pinto beans under furrow irrigation. To get a closer look at one of Colorado's agricultural regions, the Agronomy Club organized an educational field tour of agricultural production systems. This tour took the club across the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains and landed them in the Grand Valley of Western Colorado.  The Grand Valley is surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides; The Grand Mesa to the north, the Rocky Mountains to the east, the San Juan Mountains to the South, and the Uncompagre Plateau to the West.  The student led tour covered all aspects of agricultural systems including different types of production farms, input suppliers, processing facilities, pest management companies, local markets, and research facilities. The Agronomy Club members really enjoyed the tour and one of the members summed up the trip by saying “I learned way more in these two days than I ever could have learned in the classroom.”