When people talk about the importance of agriculture to the economy of northeast Colorado – and I’m talking specifically of Sterling and Logan County – they tend to think in terms of cash sales of commodities and those support businesses like elevators, equipment companies, fertilizer sales and so on.
But it goes deeper than that, much, much deeper. One example was the recent International Feedlot Cowboys Association World Finals Rodeo held in Sterling at the Logan County Fairgrounds. While a definitive calculation of economic impact hasn’t ever been done, we do know that Garden City, Kan., calculated a $150,000 cash infusion into that economy when the rodeo was held there.
It came to Sterling in 2017, thanks to Kenny Bornhoft, and it will come again one more time in 2023 before IFCA is disbanded. Even if participation has diminished by one-third since its heyday, that still means a cash injection into Sterling’s…
