Colorado Agricultural Outlook Forum Features Exploration of Colorado-Mexico Connection

The annual Colorado Agricultural Outlook Forum is slated for Feb. 19 at the Denver Adam’s Mark Hotel.

The forum, called "Colorado-Mexico Connection: Agricultural Trade, Lobor and More," is sponsored by Colorado State University Cooperative Extension and the Colorado Department of Agriculture.

"Mexico is a growing contributor to Colorado’s agriculture and economy because of international trade and the country’s migrant work force," said Don Ament, Colorado commissioner of agriculture. "This forum provides an excellent opportunity for the public and professionals to learn about these important connections with Mexico."

Scheduled speakers include:

• Don Ament, Colorado commissioner of agriculture;
• Leticia Calzada, the consul general of Mexico in Denver;
• Jorge Bustamante, a Mexican sociologist and endowed chair at the University of Notre Dame;
• Philip Martin, agriculture and resource economics professor at the University of California-Davis and editor of Rural Migration News;
• Frank Lee, deputy administrator for USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service Commodity and Marketing programs; and
• Enrique Lobo, agricultural minister at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C.

Smaller workshop sessions scheduled for the event are "Colorado’s Agricultural Marketing Successes and Issues with NAFTA"; "U.S. and Mexico’s Small Scale Agriculture: Coping with Globalization"; "Hispanic Lobor Force in Colorado’s Agriculture and Economy"; "Colorado’s Power Supply: Are We Susceptible to California’s Problems?"; "2002 Farm Bill Update"; and a legislative update.

The forum will be preceded by a reception the evening of Feb. 18. Forum registration is $90 per person before Feb. 8 and $100 after that date. To register or for more information, call 1-800-886-7683 or visit the Web at www.coloradoagforum.com.