Local farmers and businesses unite regarding minimum wage challenges

Michael Moss, owner of Kilt Farm, is the President of the Community Farmers Alliance (COFA) and is deeply concerned about the new hourly minimum wage and its potential negative impact on local farmers and small businesses in unincorporated Boulder County.

COFA represents the farmers who produce 80% of Boulder County's vegetables and is actively working to address the challenges posed by the minimum wage ordinance passed by the Boulder County Commissioners in the fall of 2023.

The Boulder County Commissioners implemented a new hourly minimum wage with incremental increases set to cap at $25 in 2030 that applies exclusively to businesses in unincorporated Boulder County. The minimum wage in most incorporated areas of Boulder County will cap at $16.92 in 2030.

Moss explained that this created an economic disparity, putting businesses in these areas, including Niwot, at a disadvantage compared to those in incorporated parts of the county. Unincorporated Boulder County businesses, including Niwot, local farmers, and other small unincorporated communities such as Hygiene, now have a minimum wage 11.8% higher than surrounding incorporated Boulder County cities and towns and 6.5% higher than the City of Boulder.

Moss said, "The farmers and small businesses currently structure pricing to pay employees as much as possible while keeping products affordable for local customers. Yet significant wage increases resulting from the minimum wage ordinance will make it impossible for many businesses to remain viable in Boulder County. One of the coalition's messages is that farmers and small businesses are being asked to solve a problem and bear the financial burden they did not create: a cost of living crisis in Boulder County."

Moss recognizes that Boulder County's high cost of living is a significant issue, as reflected in the growing reliance on community services and public calls for action. In response, the Boulder County Commissioners' initial approach was to raise the minimum wage without exempting unemancipated minors, which discourages employers from hiring employees under the age of 18.

Moss remarked, "By implementing the minimum wage ordinance, the Commissioners avoided addressing the real root cause of the problem-the lack of adequate housing supply. I believe Boulder County has contributed to this problem by buying up open space, which gives our county a unique treasure, but contributes to the lack of affordable housing."

Moss explained, "The local farmers do not set our prices. Pricing is set by competition from Weld and Arapahoe counties and South America, where wages are lower. I grow labor-intensive vegetables on eight acres with over 60 types of food crops. We need ten to 15 employees to plant, weed, irrigate, and harvest, and currently, labor is 50% of our costs, which has been increasing since 2013."

Moss continued, "The challenge of farming in Boulder County is that we do not have a dedicated agricultural workforce; there used to be transient farm labor, but that has disappeared. So, every year, we start over with new employees, and it takes about a quarter of the year to train them, and then they are gone. Raising the minimum wage to $25 per hour will be the death toll for small farmers in Boulder County."

Moss is trying to address the challenges to farming by not growing a cash crop, which means Kilt Farms will not be offering a CSA this year. He hopes to use this season to address soil health and his health. He hopes to find a more sustainable path forward for 2025 but will not be growing anything to sell to the public.

According to Moss, COFA is working on an official request to the Boulder County Commissioners to engage with farmers and others regarding the minimum wage ordinance so they can hear from everyone impacted by the challenges faced, with real-life examples and possible solutions. Moss said, "We are clarifying that we want to work with them on this issue and what needs to happen to keep our local businesses alive and thriving."

COFA and small businesses hope the Boulder County Commissioners will review the minimum wage ordinance and pass a new ordinance creating a new tiered minimum wage system for farmers and small businesses with tax incentives and subsidies. COFA believes the commissioners must engage with local farmers and small businesses when drafting a new minimum wage ordinance.

Moss said, "We want to see modifications to the existing ordinance to match what the local cities and towns in Boulder County are doing, which matches the State of Colorado's minimum wage of $14.81 per hour."

The City of Boulder has adopted a minimum wage ordinance greater than the State of Colorado's minimum wage but still less than unincorporated Boulder County. It is the only municipality in Boulder County with a minimum wage higher than the state minimum wage.