News

CLA Announces CEO Zach Riley to Depart in April Aurora, CO – Colorado Livestock Association (CLA) today announced that the organization’s Chief Executive Officer, Zach Riley, is departing in April 2025, starting a leadership transition. The CLA staff, board, and our partners are grateful to Zach for his many contributions during his term of service…

We are over halfway through the 2025 Colorado Legislative Session. This session has been unique, with the state’s budget deficit at over a billion dollars and the Joint Budget Committee working on making cuts wherever possible. This unique session has also seen legislation focused on environmental issues, labor issues, and other items. CLA’s Legislative Affairs…

When: Tuesday, March 18 at 1:00 pmWhere: Colorado State Capitol West FoyerWhy: Join fellow agricultural producers at the Colorado State Capitol to meet your legislators, celebrate agriculture in the state, and watch policy in action.

The volunteer leaders and staff of the Colorado Livestock Association work diligently to represent, inform, and advance Colorado’s livestock industry. We have had many successes in our efforts to represent, inform, and advance Colorado’s livestock industry. Below is a summary of the top 5 highlights from the first quarter of 2025. #1 The First 60…

Beef producers and agribusiness partners attended the 17th Marshall Frasier Beef Symposium to watch the dynamic line-up of speakers, network, and catch up with friends and neighbors. Held annually in mid-February the Marshall Frasier Beef Symposium is a beef producer education symposium held in honor of the late Marshall Frasier who was the first cattle…

Since the proposed slaughterhouse ban initiative was introduced in the city and county of Denver in June 2023, the livestock industry has been working to preserve 20% of the nation’s lamb harvest capacity at Superior Farms in Globeville. Denver voters were not fooled by this misleading initiative and defeated this egregious ban on an employee-owned…

The Local Food. Strong Denver. campaign is pleased that Initiative 309 has failed. Denver voters were not fooled by this misleading initiative and defeated this egregious ban on an employee-owned business, working to keep our food supply viable and affordable, protecting labor and locally sourced food within our community. We deeply appreciate all the hard…

Last week, History Colorado announced the twenty honorees for the Centennial Farms & Ranches Program. Created in partnership with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Centennial Farms & Ranches Program honors the contributions of the state’s ranching and farming families who have withstood the pressures of growth, changes in farming methods, drought, and economic conditions to preserve important…

CLA President Kory Kessinger shares his vision for the future, the livestock industry, and the Association. I grew up in Akron, Colorado, and still reside north of town at the ranch with my wife Shanan and our two children. Kacyn is in his senior year at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas and our…