Crops & Livestock
Weld County is the top producer of this in Colorado, and grows over 875,000 acres of it each year.
What is corn? (or Wheat, Hay - all are top crops)
Weld County is Colorado’s leading producer of beef cattle.
True
Only a small percentage of Weld County's farmland uses this method for irrigation.
What is full irrigation? (most is dryland or partial irrigation)
Weld County faced an agricultural depression during what period between World Wars?
What is the 1920s and 1930s?
This technology allows farmers to plant crops closer together, maximizing yield.
What is precision agriculture?
Nicknamed "white gold," this cash crop helped fuel a 20th-century agricultural boom in Weld County.
What are sugar beets?
Weld County has never been out of the top 10 agricultural counties in the nation.
True. (In the latest census, it was ranked 8th and was the only county outside of California ranked in the top 10 in the nation. )
The South Platte River is a crucial source of water for Weld County agriculture. Where do its headwaters originate?
What are the Rocky Mountains?
Before large-scale farming, what did Native American tribes in Weld County cultivate?
What are squash, beans, and sunflowers?
Selective breeding of livestock for desirable traits falls under this branch of science.
What is animal science?
Weld is home to the only ______ growing and processing company in the state.
What are Carrots? (Hungenberg Produce and the Hungenberg family have been farming in Weld for five generations and process cabbage as well as carrots from a facility just north of Greeley. )
Weld County covers a land area of approximately twice the size of the state of Rhode Island.
False. It's twice the size of the state of Delaware, or 4,033 square miles or 2,574,080 acres
The construction of this ditch, specifically for agriculture, marked a turning point towards irrigated farming in Weld County.
What is the No. 3 Ditch (off the Poudre River)
Weld County played a role in pioneering what aspect of the cattle industry?
What is cattle feeding? (Warren Monfort)
These flying machines are used to monitor crops, identify pests, and apply pesticides with precision.
What are drones? (or UAVs)
Sugar beets were brought to the area by immigrants from where in the late 1800s/early 1900s?
What is Germans from Russia?
There are 3,000 miles of state and County roads outside of municipalities.
False. There are more than 3,700 miles.
Henry Parmelee further developed fire sprinklers in 1874 to protect what?
What is a piano factory?
Which native tribes originally inhabited what is now Greeley/Weld County? (there are 3)
What are Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute?
Besides irrigation ditches, another innovation that transformed Weld County agriculture was the invention of the _____.
What is the steel plow? (or windmill for pumping water)
Weld County leads the state in dairy production. How many dairies operate in the county?
What is 74? (according to Weld County government statistics)
The number of farms with small revenue (up to $1,000 in sales) is growing and accounts for 23% of all farms in Weld.
False, small farms account for 38% of all farms in Weld.
Water conservation is key in Weld County. Name one method used to reduce water usage in agriculture.
What is no-till farming (or reduced tillage, cover crops - all accepted answers)
The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged westward expansion and farming. How many acres did it typically grant to settlers?
What is 160 acres?
CRISPR is a revolutionary gene-editing technology with potential applications in agriculture. What does CRISPR stand for?
What are Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats?