U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO), who owns three cows, has decided to continue ranching his land, which means his land in Weld County will continue to be designated as agricultural, saving him about $1,000 in taxes each year.
Evans told Weld County Assessor Brenda Dones last year that he was considering voluntarily relinquishing his agricultural designation, because he was having trouble finding time to “take care of the property, and so he didn’t know if he wanted to keep livestock on it,” according to Dones.
Evans’ cows, which he raises as a hobby, were in the hands of a nearby rancher for caretaking, according to a Facebook post by the rancher.
“He was considering it,” said Dones last year in an interview, referring to a decision to voluntarily relinquish his agricultural land designation, which is intended to help farmers stay on their land. She suggested I check with Evans about his plans for the designation of his land.
His office didn’t return a request for comment last year or yesterday.
But by the end of last year, Evans was apparently leaning toward trying to bring his cattle back to his land.
“The last time I saw Congressman Evans was about six weeks ago, and he was arranging for grazing on his property at that time,” Dones told the Colorado Times Recorder via email in December. “The law does not require farming or ranching to be active on January 1, as that would be impractical in Colorado.”
Asked by El Commercio in August what “household task” awaits him during his “summer break,” Evans replied, “I have to build a fence for the cows this summer.”
Dones confirmed last week via email that Evans’ land is currently “designated as agricultural,” as it was last year.
RELATED: Evans Says He’s Building a Fence for His Cows, But He Has None on His Land. What’s Up?
Questions about the designation of his property in Weld County arose in the wake of Evans’ practice of calling himself a “rancher” or “beef producer” during his entire political career, including his first year in the U.S. Congress.
Former Congressman John Salazar (D-CO) criticized Evans last year for promoting himself in his rural district as a “rancher,” referring to Evans as “all hat and no cattle.”
“I’m sure there’s lots of people who try to do that,” Salazar said. “He represents an ag district, so, you know.”
Evans’ bovine promotions include photos of him and his kid petting a Longhorn cow, website images of himself in a cowboy hat gazing at his Longhorns, posts on X describing himself “as a rancher” and “beef producer” fighting for “American prosperity,” a personal “Challenge Coin” adorned with a Longhorn, Facebook posts about his cows escaping, and more. Multiple cow shots are included in the Flickr photo gallery linked to his 2024 campaign website.
Even though it appears that Evans isn’t raising any cows since entering Congress, his official U.S. House website still has a photo of the congressman with a Longhorn cow and states, “My wife and I own and operate a family farm in southern Weld County, playing just a small part in Colorado’s $47 billion agriculture sector. As a beef producer myself, I have the backs of our farmers and ranchers who are feeding the world.”
While there are state guidelines on which lands can be designated agricultural, there are, of course, no rules on who can call themselves a “rancher,” and Evans’ office last year dismissed critics who say his rancher promotions are misleading or fake.
“While the Left wastes time and taxpayer dollars questioning the validity of the Evans’ family farm, Congressman Gabe Evans is fighting serious battles to make Colorado a better place to live, work, and raise a family,” Evans’ then-spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said via email, adding that Evans made $1,100 on agricultural products last year and thus meets a federal definition of a rancher.
The law does not require farming or ranching to take place on a plot of land every year for it to be designated as agricultural. As Dones told me last year, “He doesn’t have to have cattle out there every single year, but his intent is supposed to be to be farming or ranching it to the best of his ability, every year. … But if you go multiple years without any farming or ranching, then the assessor should be changing that property.”
Dones told Evans last year that he had until the end of 2025 to ask voluntarily for a change in the designation of his property, if he wanted it to come into effect in 2026.
Under the law, if a property owner voluntarily asks that their agricultural designation be rescinded, the new designation, if agreed to, would not take effect until the following year, according to Dones.
CORRECTION 1/13: Due to sloppy writing, this article initially stated in two paragraphs that Evans can designate his land as agricultural. This is the assessor’s decision, though Evans can voluntarily ask the assessor to remove the agricultural designation from his land. Also, Dones did not comment on any physical changes or lack thereof on Evans’ land last year, as implied in this article initially. This article was also changed to make it clearer that farming or ranching need not take place on agricultural land for it to continue to be designated as agricultural.
