Are you looking for a farm in the Greeley Colorado, Weld County or Northern Colorado real estate market? When looking for farm the most important aspect of farming here in Colorado can be put into one word. Water.
I farm here in Weld County and we are fortunate to have fairly good water rights to irrigate our hay farm.
Without water rights on a farm you don't have much of a farm. As you might know or maybe not we don't get alot of rain here in Weld County. So we have to make our own rain in most cases in the form of pivot irrigation sprinklers. There is flood irrigation and some farms even have sub irrigation systems.
What about wells? Sure quite a few farms have wells. But in the Weld County area thanks to crazy government regulation they have shut down the amount of water one can take out of an irrigation well. They say that the farmers are stealing water from the river without putting it back so therefore farmes with wells have to either buy replacement water or not use their wells. If they use their wells without replacement water they are subject to heavy fines. This is just my opinion, but I believe this is false and this is just a way for the goverment to exert more control on farmers, landowners, water rights with more regulations.
An irrigation well might be able to water 160 acres very well, but when you are only allowed to use it to what amounts to a week in an entire summer then it becomes somewhat useless.
This is why if you drive around Weld County you will see quite a few farms that look like they had been good farms growing nothing but weeds now.
The best water rights come in the form of water rights from the local rivers such as the South Platte. The water rights are valued based on the amount of water you get for one share and what year the water rights were established. For example a water right established in 1890 is much more valuable then a water right established in 1945. As the one established in 1945 will have to turn off before the one in 1890 if the water level in the river drops. And this happens nearly every summer.
The value of land is about in the Greeley Colorado real estate area, but the value of the water is what makes the price of farms vary wildly.
This is just a brief blog about farms, and farmland in the Greeley Colorado, Weld County and Northern Colorado marketplace. There is much more to discuss as I will later on.
If you have questions about Northern Colorado Farming, farms, and farmland please contact me at 970-302-1233, visit my website at www.greeley-weldcountyhomesforsale.com or send me an e-mail through the form below.
Marc Oster
Northern Colorado Farm Real Estate Agent.
