Decision makes no sense to this observer

Dang, where to start?

How about water? That's been in the news, again -- and forever, some might argue.

There was a late move in the state Senate to let the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District of Greeley lease Colorado-Big Thompson water from the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District to use as part of Central's water replacement plan -- specifically for past depletions to the South Platte River caused by the operation of irrigation wells within the district.

The bill was defeated in a Senate committee because of objections by many of the same people who have objected to Central's water replacement plan filed with the water court in Greeley, and by Western Slopers who were concerned that we over on this side of the mountains might take more water from them on the other side of the mountains.

First off, it's difficult, as Sen. Greg Brophy said, to object to putting more water in the South Platte River, which is what objectors on this side of the mountain were doing.

At the same time, water brought to the east side by the Colorado-Big Thompson Project already belongs to us on this side of the mountains and has for the past 50 years or so. In fact, the C-BT can bring as much as 310,000 acre-feet of water over from Lake Granby by law but, on average, brings about 231,000 acre-feet to the eight northern Colorado counties who are owners of the project.

Kind of makes one wonder exactly what's going on here.

The good news is that Central was able to lease 3,000 acre-feet of water from the city of Thornton, which allowed it to increase the quota some of its wells can pump this year. That lease also could be extended over a three-year period. Want to wager whether or not Boulder will send a Christmas card to Thornton?

To other news.

Ethanol has been taking a beating recently and is being blamed for higher food costs.

People are right, to a point, when they say it doesn't make sense to make fuel out of food, but technology is moving ahead to a point where cellulosic plants will be used instead of corn.

Meanwhile, a recent study by Iowa State University found that the growth of ethanol has caused retail gas prices to be 29 to 40 cents a gallon lower than they would have been without ethanol. Other analysts have said oil and gas prices would be 15 percent higher if not for ethanol.

The higher price of food?

That blame belongs more to $120-per-barrel oil, a growing middle class in Latin America and Asia, drought in Australia, low worldwide wheat stocks, increases in labor costs, the declining U.S. dollar and regional problems with crop production.

The blame does not belong on the shoulders of the U.S. farmer, who gets about 20 cents for every $1 spent on food, according to the latest estimates.

If we want to target the blame, target the guys who are producing $10-per-barrel oil and selling it for $120 a barrel.

While on the subject of food -- beef in particular -- there's also some good news.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture, in a recent press release, said the re-opening of the South Korean market to U.S. beef is not only good for the state's beef producers, but South Korean consumers as well.

Before the 2003 ban by South Korea, which came as a result of the discovery of a cow in Washington state with bovine spongiform encephalopathy -- more commonly, though mistakenly, called mad cow disease -- the U.S. supplied 80 percent of the nation's imported beef.

That closure cost the state more than $290 million in exports, according to the ag department.

Colorado ranked fifth among states exporting beef to the Asian country. In 2003, South Korea was the third largest buyer of Colorado beef -- supplied mainly from Swift & Co.'s Greeley plant and Cargill's plant in Fort Morgan -- at $67 million annually. South Korea is now accepting boneless and bone-in beef younger than 30 months and has agreed to accept all U.S. beef products in the future.

Before the ban, a popular item with the South Korean consumer was U.S. bone-in short ribs, said Tom Lipetzky, markets division director for the ag department. Prior to the reopening of the market to U.S. beef, the average retail price for beef products in South Korea was $10.45 per pound; in the U.S., the average price was $3.90 per pound.

So things aren't all that bad here, are they?

Bill Jackson has covered agriculture in northern Colorado for more than 30 years.