# Looking for land to raise pigs in Colorado



## rachelmcmurtrie (May 31, 2014)

On the suggestion of one of the members I am moving some of my questions to this forum with the hope that I can find more information here.

As the title suggests we are looking for land in Colorado and are a bit overwhelmed. We want to be able to raise pigs, goat and chicken now, with the possibility of cattle a few years down the road. We are a bit overwhelmed with all the different restrictions, permits, laws involved with purchasing land that will let us do what we intend to. So far the information we have gathered is:
1) Any piece of land that is exactly 35 acres or below will only be permitted to have one well which can only be used to supply water to a house and cannot be used as a water source for livestock or commercial purposes. So we have to look for land that is at least 35.01 acres or larger.
2) We need to find land that will allow us to raise pigs in specific. I was informed today that the piece of land we were looking at was allowed to have cattle, goat and chicken but not pigs.
3) There is a difference between land you can raise livestock on and land you can raise livestock on where you intend to sell the livestock.
4) There is a danger of brisket disease when livestock are raised at an altitude higher than 5000 ft. So the higher up the land is in elevation past 5000 ft the more we should avoid it.

Are all the statements above accurate? Are there any other questions we need to be specifically asking before we start the buying process for a piece of land? Who should we be asking these questions to? I do not want to take a realtor's word and would like to check with the source myself. To summarize we are looking for land where we can raise, breed and sell pigs for commercial purposes. We also want to be able to plant crops and different types of forage for our livestock and would like to know if there are restrictions on what we can and cannot plant on our land.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

Water is indeed critical for livestock, but also for farming, and just gardening... Of all the States, why CO? I am sure there are areas with water, but don't hear of many. Often, it is the lack of water I hear about. So, if I was considering CO, I would only look at the areas where water was plentiful. Most Realtors can answer all your questions, so I'd recommend you contact one in CO.


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## rachelmcmurtrie (May 31, 2014)

What can I say other than Colorado has absolutely stolen my heart. I have never witnessed such beauty in all my life. I have lived in 5 different countries and traveled to a lot more. Thus, we are determined to put our roots down in Colorado. Might seem a silly reason to most, it does to my family, but it is of utmost importance to me.

We have contacted quite a few realtors and every single one has been helpful. My fear in relying solely on the realtors for advice is, their need to sell us a piece of land would outweigh their need to be straightforward with us in all areas. That's why I approached this forum with my questions. To get advice from a source that would be unbiased in that regard.

The area Penrose to La Junta has an abundance of water. Lots of crops are grown there, there are also other pockets where water is not an issue, so it would not be impossible to find the land we are looking for here in Colorado. I was seeking information that would point us toward an area such as the one I mentioned. So we could concentrate our search in such an area.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

> We have contacted quite a few realtors and every single one has been helpful. My fear in relying solely on the realtors for advice is, their need to sell us a piece of land would outweigh their need to be straightforward with us in all areas. That's why I approached this forum with my questions. To get advice from a source that would be unbiased in that regard.


 All you need to do is find an honest reputable "homesteading" Realtor. That should allay your fears. Every one of my Clients, considering any type of homesteading, have been thrilled as I assess every property for their homesteading objectives. There should be a good homesteading Realtor in CO... By the way, there are plenty of us in real estate who put our Clients first, not the goal to just "sell" them property without any regard for them. 

As for CO, great place if you can find a nice property in an area with plenty of water! I wish you the best there. I have lived in CA, OR, WA, CO, AZ, and WY. All the States had beautiful areas in them. A temperate climate was one of our top goals, near the saltwater, bodies of freshwater (rivers, lakes, etc...). We enjoy fishing (saltwater/freshwater), hunting, mushrooming, hiking, etc... Due to our lifestyle, the area we chose is perfect for us. You are right...all about priorities.

As for getting homesteading advice and information for living in higher elevations, I'd recommend speaking with the area locals who are living the lifestyle. Otherwise, hopefully there are some HTer's who can chime in. I didn't want to live in a high elevation, only 1,065' above sea level here (foothills of the Olympics).


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## rachelmcmurtrie (May 31, 2014)

A lot of the information we have gotten has indeed been by wonderful realtors. I did not realize you were a realtor and apologize for any offence I have caused. That was not my intention. We are currently working with a great realtor who has been a wealth of information and has directed me to great resources such as the Colorado Division of Water Resources website which showed me all the different types of well permits, etc. It's not that I do not trust any realtor, it's that I would like to get information from 2 sources such as my realtor as well as an outside source. Which is what I am seeking on this thread, my 2nd source. Furthermore, rather than just hearing an affirmation, I loving having a link, book, website resource that will allow me to check whenever I need should further questions come up. Such as the website provided to me about the water permits. A google search did not yeild that resource to me, a good realtor did and I am thankful.

I agree every state, country has beauty in and of it's own. All of my friends prefer the beaches of Florida and California to the snow and mountains Colorado has. That is beautiful to them and I can understand that. My parents far prefer Texas to Colorado, I understand that as well. You are completely right, it does come down to priorities. That's what makes this world an infinitely interesting place. Everyone is different and likes something different. 

As far as speaking with the locals, I have only seen those that raise cattle, not a single chicken, goat or pig farm. For those that raise cattle I see acres and acres of cows feeding in the pasture and have no way of knowing where those owners are and/or if they can spare me the time of day to answer questions about elevation. I am certain they are extremely busy individuals. Furthermore, even if cattle are able to sustain high elevations, my questions pertain to chickens, pigs and goats which might be affected differently. Perhaps I am not looking in the right place but I am unable to find any information on how elevation affects pigs, chicken and goats. Only find articles relating vaguely to cattle.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

> As far as speaking with the locals, I have only seen those that raise cattle, not a single chicken, goat or pig farm. For those that raise cattle I see acres and acres of cows feeding in the pasture and have no way of knowing where those owners are and/or if they can spare me the time of day to answer questions about elevation. I am certain they are extremely busy individuals. Furthermore, even if cattle are able to sustain high elevations, my questions pertain to *chickens, pigs and goats which might be affected differently.* Perhaps I am not looking in the right place but I am *unable to find any information on how elevation affects pigs, chicken and goats*. Only find articles relating vaguely to cattle.


 Sometimes, it is hard to know which types of searches will bring up the information you need. When I googled "high elevation homesteading," a lot of info came up. That is where I think you should start. Those living in higher elevations often have blogs or sites, especially if they have home related businesses. There are also those writing about their experiences and selling books...


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## rachelmcmurtrie (May 31, 2014)

You are right, I was searching "high elevation and how it affects pigs", "high elevation and pigs" and variations of that. Those hits were bringing up how cattle deal with high elevation so I figured broadening my search terms would yield even less results on pigs in high elevation. I will look up high elevation with homesteading in general and see what that brings me. Thank you!


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Look out 94 toward Rush. Be sure to get the well permit number and look up the well log to get gallons per minute, well depth and other pertinent info. Pretty sure El Paso county has building codes, etc. Avoid any home owners associations like the plague. Amazing the restrictions they will put on you. Get something zoned ag and you should be good. Pigs will do fine if they are born at the altitude and the parents are acclimated. Had neighbors raising them at 7000 ft with no problem. Poultry will be ok too.

Love Colorado too, but can't handle the water situation and I prefer not to irrigate. We lived in NW CO for 14 yrs.


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## rachelmcmurtrie (May 31, 2014)

That is interesting. The realtor we are working with said HOAs are fine as they help keep the roads snow free and such but it was covenants we needed to watch out for, since some covenants will specifically say "pigs can't be raised in this parcel". 

Do you have any thoughts on augmentation? I was very insistent on buying land with water rights but our realtor keeps convincing us that since we don't intend on raising crops to sell, augmentation is the way to go. The land with water rights cost more. Our realtor has been a wealth of information as far as which counties/areas we should consider and after driving down to those areas he has been spot on. We see plot after plot of farmers raising crops, something we didn't see in any of the other areas we had previously looked at. So I am unsure if we should listen to what he says and give up on looking for land with water rights and settle for more land with augmentation. There IS land with water rights that we can afford and is 35-40 acres which is more than we need to do what we want. 

One of the members on these forums also suggested we look at acquiring mineral rights when buying our land. He reasoned it was so we didn't have to deal with people coming and drilling, fracking, introducing biohazards to ourselves and our livestock. That makes so much sense to me. Our realtor says not having mineral rights is a plus because when people come to drill on our land they will bear the costs of drilling but give us a percentage of the profits. We don't really want these profits, we just want to raise a farm if that makes any sense. So it is very confusing to us. Does anyone have any insight on this? Should we stick to our guns on water rights AND mineral rights? If the concession to buy land without either wouldn't hurt us down the road, I wouldn't mind make the concession. I'm just unsure on a lot of this at this point.

We have been looking north of Rush, at Calhan and Ramah, as well as south of Rush at Fowler and La Junta. We are really liking the Calhan area so far. We will check out Rush as well. 

Really good to know the pigs and chicken will do fine at this altitude. 

So far we haven't come across land with wells in them that we've liked. If we do I will ask for the well permit number, well dept, gallons/minute and other info. The land we're considering right now states "1 acre foot of water rights, more are available". I will see if it is zoned for agriculture like you mentioned.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

If you don't need to irrigate a very large area, then you really don't need the standard water rights. If you have a senior well on more than 35 acres you are entitled to irrigate up to 1 acre of lawn or garden from that well. That is why you want a property that already has a good well on it and check what the permit allows. It will state whether you can irrigate an acre and water livestock or not. If you need to water more than an acre, but not planning to irrigate the entire property, check with the water district about an augmentation contract to allow you to irrigate more land.

IF a HOA is ONLY for road maintenance it is ok. Be sure that there is no way the rest of the land owners can vote to restrict your usage. Beware of covenants.

Land with water rights on an irrigation scheme IS expensive, plus there tends to be a lot of arguing and sometimes down right fighting about it. Never knew people could get so het up about water till I lived in CO and had an irrigation ditch to use!


Mineral rights will cost you. Unless you own a very large tract of land, drilling and such on adjacent properties will affect you nearly as much as drilling on your own property. Unless you have money to develop the minerals, there is not that much benefit to owning them. The oil/gas companies have to pay you for land use if they drill on your property or run a pipeline across it.


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