Article: Census Shows Population Holds Steady, Ranching Is King in Otero County, Colo.

By Dennis Darrow, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 1--A slow, decades-long drop-off in population came to an end last year for Rocky Ford and other cities in Otero County, Colo., according to the 2000 Census.

The census also shows that while there is a perception that farming drives the county's agricultural economy, it's actually the livestock industry that is No. 1. The livestock industry accounts for nearly 80 percent of the county's agricultural sales.

In 2000, Rocky Ford was home to 5,895 people, up slightly from 5,804 people a decade earlier, according to the U.S. Census. La Junta, the county ...

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