Colorado has more than 200 different specialty plates available to residents, but in its 150-year-long history, the state had never had an agriculture-themed one.
Finally in 2024, one has arrived. The Logan County Cattlewomen, an affiliate of the Colorado Cattlewomen, collected over 4,000 signatures and had gotten a bill sponsored by a bipartisan group of politicians to create an agricultural-themed specialty license plate.
Colorado has an extensive history of agriculture, dating to even before it was a state, and it remains one of the largest industries in the state today. To not have an agricultural license plate for the state seemed lacking, and the Logan County Cattlewomen helped to change that.
The bill, HB24-1369, passed and was signed by the governor in June 2024, becoming law. The bill was sponsored by state Reps. Richard Holtorf and Matthew Martinez and state Sens. Byron Pelton and Janice Marchman.
The tentative design of the plate features a cow in the center of the plate, honoring the fact that cattle and calves are Colorado’s top agricultural commodity.
Also featured on the plate are other livestock, such as horses, pigs, and bison. Commodity crops featured include hay, wheat, and corn. It has a tagline that reads, “Feeding the World.”
Colorado has 33,800 farms spread across 31.7 million acres. That means nearly half of the state’s total land area is dedicate to agriculture.
The state has about 2.8 million head of cattle and ranks first nationally in the production of proso millet. Colorado is also known for dry beans, potatoes, cabbage, onions, peaches, and apples. It has 4.6 million laying hens, producing 1.3 billion eggs each year.
In Colorado, obtaining a specialty license plate typically requires a donation to an affiliated organization and submitting proof of donation to the Department of Motor Vehicles. For example, the “Protect Our Rivers” license plate, which depicts a river and a couple trees, requires a $25 donation to Colorado Trout Unlimited.
Different license plates require different donation amounts, such as $52.80 to Colorado Rockies Baseball Club Foundation to obtain a Rockies license plate, or $44 to Colorado Parks Foundation for a State Parks license plate.
For the agricultural plate, two one-time fees will be required in addition to regular normal fees for a plate — one in the amount of $25 and the other in $50. The $25 fee will go toward the Colorado DRIVES vehicle services account, whereas half of the $50 fee will go toward the highway users tax fund, and the other half will go towards a designated agriculture management fund.
The agriculture management fund will be used to support marketing programs to help Coloradans identify and purchase Colorado agricultural products. The law officially goes into effect Aug. 7, 2024, and the bill says plate will become available Jan. 1, 2025.
Holtorf — a cattle rancher, dryland farmer and one of the bill’s sponsors — said he is keen to get his plate when it becomes available. He said he’s excited to “get this industry recognition in line with everyone else in Colorado.”
Generating an agriculture fund and spreading awareness through an agricultural license plate can help support Coloradan farmers, ranchers, and producers in recognizing their dedication and hard work to feed their communities.
