Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources

Thursday, February 26, 2026·3h 51m·▶ Watch / Listen

The committee also unanimously confirmed five nominees to the Colorado Tourism Office board of directors.

Key Actions

·SB 26-065 – Systemic Insecticide Use Limitations (SEED Act)No Vote

+ 10 more actions

Controversies

Whether the SEED Act's third-party verification system is operationally workable

Former Commissioner Don Brown argued that 160 inspectors would each need to cover approximately 26,000 acres — versus 38.6 acres per hemp inspector — making the program 'impossible,' while Senator Wallace offered an amendment requiring a one-week turnaround and allowing treated seed use if that deadline is not met, with CDA given authority to set timelines; the amendment's outcome is unclear.

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Notable Quotes

“Four chemical giants control 80% of corn seed in this country. Seed distributors are often locked into contracts that require them to sell inputs, including neonic treated seeds. Whether farmers want them or need them or not, farmers are paying for a product that the science tells us almost never provides an economic benefit. This is not a story about protecting farmers from regulation. It is about protecting farmers from a market that has been captured by a handful of corporations. A captive market, not a free one.”
Senator Kipp — Senator Kipp, co-sponsor of SB 26-065, was explaining the bill's rationale during sponsor testimony — arguing that the lack of farmer choice in the seed market, not excessive regulation, is the core problem the bill addresses.

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TranscriptPreview

Good afternoon. The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will come to order on February 26th. Ms. Jackson, please call the roll. Senators Catlin? Here. Henriksen. Here. Kipp? Here. Pelton B. Here. Pelton R. Here. Wallace. Here. Mr. Chair. Here. All right, we have full attendance. Welcome, Senator Wallace. Thank you for subb and appreciate everybody being here. We have some confirmations on our agenda and then we will get to the one bill that we have on our agenda. So with that all, I would invite the confirmation hearing for the Colorado Tourism Office board of directors and we'll have director Wolf come and introduce our nominees. It's on the table where the cord plugs into the table there. That little. There we go. Fantastic. My name is Tim Wolfe. I'm the director of the Colorado Tourism Office. The owed at mission statement is to empower all to thrive in Colorado's economy. And the tourism office is a division of owed it and our mission is to empower the tourism industry to inspire the world to explore Colorado respectfully and responsibly. We do that through a number of pillars. One of our pillars is economic development and making sure…

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