Ranching in Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins: fit in, leasing, how much)

[Castor0troy]

Hi guys
So I’m looking to move to Colorado.
Got a family with 1 kid.
Plans are to buy a 50-100 acre plot of land and do some ranching and farming.
My wife is ok with that but she wants the ranch to be close to a big city so the kid can have an urban lifestyle.

Can someone suggest cities in Colorado where I can do ranching.

Ideally I would like a place which is 10-20 mins drive to city downtown for shopping movies etc.
So basically we want a mix of both country and city life.

Our first choice was boulder but I can’t find a lot of land around boulder.

Any suggestions and is this kind of country+city lifestyle possible.?

Thanks
Sam

[sunsprit]

It's "possible" if you have the financial ability to purchase and operate a $multi-millions parcel if you're seeking a "lifestyle" opportunity …. as opposed to a financially productive ranch/farm venture.

To be this close to a "big city" essentially means locating on The Front Range of Colorado, so you've got some issues ahead with such a small acreage:

1) farming: WATER. For most of the Front Range (Ft Collins south through to Pueblo), you'll need irrigation water to support your crops unless you're looking at dryland wheat farming. Dryland wheat means you'll need to hire a combine crew and equipment to harvest your production … even if you made 80 bushel wheat/acre, at current prices you'll have a difficult time seeing a net profit in a typical 2-year production cycle of field prep, planting, harvesting. Vegetables, corn, root crops, and hay production are irrigated alternatives … but costly to get into, maintain, and harvest. If you don't have a neighbor with the appropriate equipment who is able to assist your small acreage production on a share or nominal cost basis for equipment/labor per acre, you'll have a difficult time justifying the equipment ownership expense for such a small acreage.

2: ranching: you'll not be supporting livestock from such a small parcel. You will be buying feed/grain/hay year around. Grazing your land will not support livestock for more than a few days to a month or so per year, depending upon the amount of natural moisture. Bear in mind that you're looking at a very dry climate zone.


3) While Boulder county area did have numerous small horse farm stables/operations for decades, more recent zoning requirements were targeted to their removal as being unwelcome due to noise/smells/insects complaints from the newer immigrants to the are when the adjacent lands got subdivided. IOW, farming and ranching were specifically targeted by the latest population increase as being nuisances which could be regulated/taxed out of existence. Many of those grandfathered in operations were subject to new limitations per acre on the number of head of livestock they could keep on the premises, with horse operations being forced into unprofitability. The remaining ones that can make the cash flow are exceptionally valuable properties. A 50-acre facility in the Boulder area is worth some seriously high dollars today, so a new owner would be looking at substantial property taxes on top of the cost of ownership.


OTOH, there are places in Colorado where a 50-100 acre parcel may be productive. Consider the Western slope in places such as Palisade. Again, you'll pay dearly for the land/productive capacity … and you won't be near any "big city" although Grand Junction may suffice for your requirements.


FWIW, after owning a smaller acreage horse property just into Weld County … a few yards away from the Boulder County line, we sought a similar property to your description. We wanted to do some small scale farming on irrigated acreage with reasonable water rights/availability (rights don't equal functional water availability, another big concern in the area) and a modest house/outbuildings property. This was back in the 1990's … and, much to our dismay … we were priced out of properties in Colorado. We looked at the Front Range as well as the Western slope. Most of the potential properties we checked out had already sold their water rights (separable from the surface land ownership) and were being "dried up", which was the reason the farmer/rancher was selling out and moving on. Most of the properties were being sold essentially for land development pricing since they were no longer going to be viable farming operations without irrigation water. Also, there were significant changes in the surface/groundwater system that had worked their way through the courts in Colorado where historical water sources were no longer available to many farmers, so that was drying up their lands. All that on top of aggressive purchasing of water rights by Front Range municipalities in their efforts to sustain their population growth forecasts. Water is a very big deal here … the key to growth … and priced accordingly.


IMO, you can still find what you're looking for in Colorado … if you're only seeking to make this a lifestyle choice, not a financially productive farm/ranch. You'll need to bring a lot of cash to buy the place ….

[ryanek9freak]

Originally Posted by Castor0troy

Hi guys
So I’m looking to move to Colorado.
Got a family with 1 kid.
Plans are to buy a 50-100 acre plot of land and do some ranching and farming.
My wife is ok with that but she wants the ranch to be close to a big city so the kid can have an urban lifestyle.

Can someone suggest cities in Colorado where I can do ranching.

Ideally I would like a place which is 10-20 mins drive to city downtown for shopping movies etc.
So basically we want a mix of both country and city life.

Our first choice was boulder but I can’t find a lot of land around boulder.

Any suggestions and is this kind of country+city lifestyle possible.?

Thanks
Sam

What you are asking for simply does not exist for mere mortals.

[jim9251]

The saying here is "want to make a million dollars ranching?" "Start with two million dollars".


Colorado is a BIG state, if you want to do "ranching" look at Delta or Montrose counties.

[SkyDog77]

What’s your budget? In your other thread you said you wanted to do this 20 minutes from Boulder. Do you have millions?

[TCHP]

Sunsprit did a good job of explaining it all as there is A LOT to learn about water rights and access.

I'd also ask what do you consider big city for an urban lifestyle, movies and shopping? Alamosa, Trinidad, Burlington, and others and may offer some of this, but may not be what you have in mind. Please understand that because of the arid nature of CO, the population density here may be significantly different than where you are from. We do not have 50k semi-urban population centers every 30-40 minutes apart. That means most of our urban areas are significantly well developed and central to the I-25 corridor. Outside of that is where agriculture takes places, sometimes hours away. 20 minutes away from downtown, in most of our cities, may not even get you out of the city. 20 minutes outside of the edge of the city will put you into sporadic suburban development, another 20 minutes outside of that is where you will finally find farming and ranching efforts.

Depending on what you consider a city for amenities, you might consider things along the Arkansas River Valley in southern CO, the Rio Grande area of the San Luis Valley, or the Cache La Poudre and Platte Rivers systems in northern CO.

[hikenbike]

Originally Posted by TCHP

That means most of our urban areas are significantly well developed and central to the I-25 corridor. Outside of that is where agriculture takes places, sometimes hours away. 20 minutes away from downtown, in most of our cities, may not even get you out of the city. 20 minutes outside of the edge of the city will put you into sporadic suburban development, another 20 minutes outside of that is where you will finally find farming and ranching efforts.

^^This. This is even true in Boulder. Probably more so because of the open space surrounding the city.

You're going to have to compromise on some of your criteria. If you must live close to an urban area (Front Range) then you're going to have to compromise on the size of your land and the extent of your farming operations. That said, if you're o.k. with a 40-50 minute (minimum) commute, you can find some smaller homestead possibilities (1-7 acres or so) in that 'sporadic, suburban' zone where you could do some farming and have some animals. You can do quite a lot on a small piece of land if you're clever about it. There will likely be some zoning restrictions but it is probably the best you can hope for if you must have both worlds. You could even consider leasing land further out in the country if your intent is to be a full time rancher. You can commute to your ranch, wife and kid can go to the city, live somewhere in between but everybody will have some driving to do.

And we haven't even gotten into budget.

[NW Crow]

Lifestyle ranches can be a land appreciation play if you can manage the investment / wait, but the ranches that might be successful in terms of operating profits tend to be 1,000 acres or way more. 30-90 minutes outside Greeley would be a main area to look for an operationally viable ranch. Boulder would seem like about the worst place for a ranch that had to be operationally viable. Maybe you could find something 1/2 hour north of Fort Collins or 1/2 hour northeast of Colorado Springs or 1/2 hour southwest of Pueblo.

Looking for 50 acre parcels in La Plata County outside Durango, the prices tend to be in the $1.5 - 4 million range with some higher and lower. Would have to investigate more closely to identify how much of the land could be farmed or ranched. Generally will be only a modest percentage and not be enough to be a viable operating ranch or probably not anywhere close. Of course water rights are a big factor.

Unless you can make a credible case to be in the top 20% of the smartest, most experienced, hardest working ranchers, I wouldn't be in the commercial ranching game.

[beezle1]

Are you wanting to have a hobby ranch, or do you expect to make a living with farming/ranching? Making a living at it will be difficult if not impossible here. Having a hobby farm is doable, depending on your budget.

[NW Crow]

Forestland and a little meadow is hobby farm terrain.

If you want to be near Denver, Franktown and Elizabeth might be worth a look.

If anyone (perhaps someone else) didn't need to be near a "big" city, outside Rapid City SD or Helena MT might be decent, less expensive options.