HomeMy WebLinkAboutHodges property3From:The Golden Hoof
To:OSBT-Web
Subject:Hodges property
Date:Thursday, March 12, 2026 10:33:18 AM
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Dear OSBT Members,
It has come to my attention that OSMP Staff may be recommending to you that it does not
make sense for OSMP to continue to own agricultural properties with homes on them like the
Hodges. I would like to strongly disagree with this assessment. I think it is a short sighted
policy that lacks an understanding of what it takes to create successful long term farming
enterprises. In Boulder the pattern is that new, young, idealistic farmers replace failed
enterprises - giving the impression from casual observation of a thriving farming community.
In reality it is more like a game of musical chairs- local farmers keep failing. To change this
dynamic, in addition to access to agricultural leased fields, farmers and ranchers need more
Headquarters Open Space properties like Ertl, Lewis, Hartnagel Hunter-Kolb, and Poor Farm,
not less.
I am a local farmer/ rancher trying to figure out how to run a local farm sustainably.
Economically this is a very difficult task in Boulder County. Costs, including costs of living/
housing, are very high and margins are very low. Minimum wage has gone up dramatically
and quickly which is both good and challenging for subsistence enterprises like small, local
farms and ranches. Farming and ranching are very labor intensive. One of the few things we
have in our favor is that farmers generally are very motivated by the potential to have a good
life style and a life of meaning. If we can provide low cost, on farm housing to them, this can
help a great deal. At our farm, The Golden Hoof, we have a fair amount of on farm housing
and this has helped us hugely over the years. Being able to live where you work, when your
work is something as grounding and wholistic as farming, can enhance lifestyle a great deal. It
can also simplify operations and increase things like animal welfare to have folks living on the
farm/ ranch. These needs come into focus when chicks are hatching and the power goes out, or
when a wind gust comes up and rips a hoop house or one of the many different scenarios that
come up over and over on farms.
Farmers can not afford to purchase land or homes in Boulder County from the fruits of their
labor, but they very much need affordable homes on the land that they farm. Small local
farmers can only gain access to a Headquarter property in Boulder County through (vast
personal wealth or) values based relationships with Land Owners like the City and County.
Other Private land owners sometimes can provide this kind of situation, but in the long term
these opportunities tend to fade away, often with little to no warning. Properties like the
Hodges with quality homes on them, if used in support of local food production, are of
tremendous value to the community. We have lost way too many good, hardworking local
farmers too often over too many years- we need a sustainable local food system and access to
affordable land with decent housing and farming infrastructure is of primary importance to
achieve this goal.
When the Imel Property was purchased jointly by the City and County of Bounder you opted
not to purchase the headquarters associated with this property with a home and barns and
loafing sheds on it. We purchased this property because we saw the tremendous value this
property could have to the local food system. We cleaned it up, negotiated the Special Use
process and easement restrictions in order to keep it in local food production, added a
workable irrigation system and 3 phase power, transformed the pole barn into a greenhouse
with storage, packing and washing facilities and this Headquarters is now home to The
Treehouse Collective, producing local food, flowers, vermicompost and a tool library for
farmers. This is great, but it would be better in the long run if this land and infrastructure were
still owned by open space to ensure it stays available to the farming community when we pass
on ourselves or when we no longer have the financial ability to keep this available to the
community ourselves.
Thanks so much for reading/ listening and for all that you do in support of local food.
Best, Alice Starek
The Golden Hoof
www.thegoldenhoof.com
720 900 9494