Last month, Governor Jared Polis gave his State of the State address before a joint session of the General Assembly and to all Coloradans around the state. As I and other rural legislators listened to his speech, we couldn’t help but notice something so significant to our state barely received more than a brief mention.  As the speech lagged on, it was evident the governor was clearly avoiding talking about it. It became the industrial elephant in the room, if you will.

In his 70-minute, 8,000-word monologue, the governor mentioned the word “agriculture” one single time. The words “farms” and “farmers” were each only used once as well. For comparison, the governor referenced the fictional Lord of the Rings character “Gandalf” three times. Add to this list Luke Skywalker, South Park, and a very awkward impression of Star Wars’ Yoda, and one could be left scratching their head about whether the governor cares more about making pop culture references than talking about rural Coloradans.

Was ignoring Colorado’s agricultural industry an honest mistake on the governor’s part? We seriously doubt it; however, it's likely difficult to see the vast swaths of farms and ranches when lounging comfortably in ivory towers and gold domes.

It's unfathomable the governor of a state — where the agricultural sector is the second largest economic power — accidentally gave nothing more than a passing mention of it. The governor offered two lines about the importance of water for farms, and it was time to move on to bigger, more important issues — like eBike and electric vehicle tax credits.

We shouldn’t be so surprised. This is in line with Polis’s long history of not only ignoring, but actively attacking, our farmers and ranchers. Look no farther than his past appointments of political activists to critical agriculture departments, ignoring the industry in previous State of the State addresses and political stunts like his “MeatOut Day” to know the governor is no supporter of what we do for Colorado.

According to Colorado’s Department of Agriculture, our agricultural industry generates approximately $47 billion annually and employs nearly 200,000 Coloradans. Millions of people in Colorado and across the country are fed by the very food we produce here each and every day. Polis won’t so easily forget our farmers and ranchers when he’s looking for tax revenue to fund his bloated and endless government programs.

In response to his snub of our constituents, rural representatives Richard Holtorf of Akron, Marc Catlin of Montrose, Ryan Armagost of Berthoud and I — with the support of our other rural caucus colleagues — released a joint statement calling for the governor to better recognize the importance of Colorado’s agricultural industry. Promises of working harder to bridge the gap between the rural-urban divide is a common talking point among urban politicians that falls by the wayside after elections. The governor’s failure to include our farmers and ranchers more in his speech about the current and future state of Colorado didn’t go unnoticed by our constituents either.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates 97% of America’s land is rural territory. The U.S. Department of Agriculture approximates agriculture contributes $1.264 trillion annually to the country’s GDP. If Polis has higher political aspirations for the future, he should probably start paying more attention to our own rural areas and industries first.