Charles Barr, owner of the Spring Born greenhouse in Silt, and Gail Schwartz, former senator and representative of the Colorado Water Conservation Board, had a chat at the greenhouse under construction last week. Legislators are planning to introduce a law that will allow greenhouses like this one to be taxed at lower agricultural rates.
Heather Sackett / Aspen Journalism
A Colorado state legislature plans to introduce a law to expand the definition of a farm and agricultural produce in favor of a new greenhouse facility in Silt.
The Bill, sponsored by Rep. Dyan Roberts, and now in draft form, would include a “farmed facility with a controlled environment” (CEAF) in the definition of a farm so that those facilities could be taxed at a lower rate than if they were If so, you have been classified as commercial.
That’s good news for entrepreneur Charles Barr, who is building a 113,400-square-foot, mostly automated, greenhouse – which he called Spring Born – along the Colorado River to grow leafy green lettuce. This is the first foray into agriculture for the San Francisco-based businessman. He bought the 254-acre property in October 2019 for $ 1.5 million.
Most of that land – minus 11 acres that he took from production to build the facility – is leased to a local rancher and remains in traditional agricultural production, where hay is grown and cows are raised. The greenhouse and associated storage / processing buildings cover 3.5 hectares of the package.
Barr originally planned to build the greenhouse in conjunction with a geothermal power plant in Gunnison County. When this location failed, he moved the greenhouse to Silt without the geothermal project.
It is planned to grow lettuce in a sustainable, efficient and pesticide-free way all year round, using less water than traditional outdoor farming. Once water gets into the greenhouse, it uses up almost 100%, which means the plants will use everything. The lettuce would be packaged and mailed for sale in grocery stores.
“If I can do this with 95% less water, we’ll do it,” Barr said, referring to his company’s internal calculations for water usage. “Why not grow the lettuce here instead of letting the water trickle down to Arizona and growing the lettuce there and transporting it here?”
The Spring Born greenhouse in Silt, which is currently under construction, can be seen from a hill behind the property. State lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill that will include such automated operations in the definition of a farm and produce so they can qualify for tax breaks.
Heather Sackett / Aspen Journalism
Barr and proponents of the project say that as temperatures rise as climate change increases, which in turn increases the need for aquatic plants, the future of growing food is indoors. Gail Schwartz, a former state senator and current Colorado Water Conservation Board representative for the Colorado River, helped make the greenhouse and bill a reality.
“I was at an energy conference in Norway last year and they said that by 2050, due to climate change, practically all of our food will be grown in such facilities,” she said. “We need to control the temperatures and drought that will affect agriculture in the long term, and it is.”
The greenhouse will create approximately 20 jobs and plans to partner with Colorado Mountain College for a training program. Schwartz added that Spring Born could soon benefit from a rural jump-start tax credit program that is expected to be approved soon in Garfield County. This would allow businesses to apply for a four-year tax exemption for personal property out of the county.
“Amid the COVID pandemic and economic fallout, we are looking for ways we can encourage state lawmakers to encourage economic development in rural Colorado, and the bill seems like a great way to do that,” said Roberts.
In the soil of the country
Under Colorado law, a crop is not currently considered an agricultural product for that purpose unless it is grown “in the soil” – for example, in pots or planters or in hydroponic gutters such as Spring Born’s from tax exemptions. Since Spring Born will not grow greenery in the soil itself, for technical reasons it cannot be classified as a farm or as a lettuce that it produces as an agricultural product.
The value of agricultural land depends on the productivity of the land – not what the land would be sold for in the open market – and owners pay much less taxes than commercial property owners. According to lawyer David Myler, including greenhouse-made food in the definition of an agricultural product could save Barr about $ 250,000 in property taxes annually.
“We think the state should incentivize all of the benefits,” Myler said. “Basically, we think we are a farm and we want to be treated like a farm.”
According to a bill, hemp and marijuana growers would not be included in the expanded definition, nor would facilities with an area of less than 10,000 square feet. Roberts, a Democrat whose House District 26 includes Eagle and Routt counties, said last week he expected the bill to be introduced in the next few weeks. Rep. Perry Will, a Republican representing House District 57, which includes the greenhouse, did not answer questions about the proposal
Leafy vegetables grow in this 113,400-square-foot automated Spring Born greenhouse that is being built in Silt. Owner Charles Barr says the farm will use less water than growing crops outdoors.
Heather Sackett / Aspen Journalism
Water consumption
Although growing lettuce indoors uses less water than outdoors with sprinkler or flood irrigation, Spring Born will not take advantage of the water rights associated with the Barr land for growing greenhouse lettuce.
Those water rights – 4 cubic feet per second from the Rising Sun Ditch, which comes from the Colorado River – are still used to grow hay outside during the summer months. However, these irrigation rights can only be used during the irrigation season, from around the end of April to October. To grow plants in a greenhouse year-round, Barr will use water from three new wells he is digging for the project.
According to Barr’s water attorney Chris Geiger of Glenwood, the project includes an expansion plan for 25 acres of water from the West Divide Water Conservancy District to replace the water for the Colorado River system and downstream users who will use it from the Balcomb & Green based in Springs.
The proposal raises questions
While most of the people interviewed for this story supported the CEAF concept, a few asked questions about the proposal. Kathryn Bedell is the commissioner for the State Agriculture Commission for District 4, which includes Garfield County. She sees no problem in including CEAFs in the definitions of agricultural and agricultural products as long as the purpose of the facility is to grow food for people. But if it were up to her, she would change an important point on the calculation.
“I think the 10,000 square feet (minimum) is actually too big and I’d like to see that changed down,” she said. “It’s big business for me.”
Garfield County’s Assessor Jim Yellico said that while the growing of vegetables is admirable and the technology is fantastic, Spring Born is not a farm and should not be rated as such.
“If it were up to me I would look at what it is – a food growing facility – and propose a new method of assessment within the agricultural classification,” he said in an email.
Yellico also noted that Spring Born currently appears to be the first and only automated greenhouse in Colorado that this change in law would apply to.
“My problem is that few people are benefiting from it right now,” he said. “It fits the bill of a special interest bill.”
Proponents, however, hope that if the state creates a tax incentive, Spring Born won’t be alone for long, and that more farmers will follow in Barr’s footsteps. They say that if the bill becomes law, it could give traditional farm producers an opportunity to diversify their business by adding a CEAF to their farm.
“I think, as a legislator, I am making an effort not just to legislate a specific project, but to create future opportunities in that area, and I think Spring Born will show others in Colorado that this is a viable operation,” said Roberts.
The Rocky Mountain Farmers Union has not yet taken an official position on the bill, but foreign affairs director Dan Waldvogle said the organization supports agricultural taxes based on productivity.
“I think we want to create a future where there are options,” he said. “Given the impact of climate change and the drought, there may be a need in the future for some of these operations to turn when you hit that break-even point.”
Aspen Journalism, in partnership with The Aspen Times and Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, covers water and rivers. More information is available at http://www.aspenjournalism.org.