Get SunFest tickets here!
When: 1:15-2:15 p.m.Where: SIE 1150 | First Floor
Who deserves Colorado’s precious water more? Fourth and fifth generation farmers in historic Pueblo communities feeding a hungry nation? Or the 5.2 million urban residents of the Front Range? Vital Colorado agriculture uses 85% of the available water, yet 85% of the state’s population lives in cities. Explore this growing tension with the makers of an award-winning documentary about Pueblo farms and leading Colorado water and agriculture experts.
Moderator: Michael Booth, Colorado Sun Environment Reporter
Get Tickets!Kristie Nackord
film producer and strategist for Lower Arkansas Water Conservation District
Working at the intersection of agriculture, water, and rural communities, Kristie Nackord is a strategist with the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District—committed to safeguarding the water resources in Colorado’s Lower Arkansas Valley. She is a film and impact campaign producer and is driven by the belief that if people come to know and love these places as she does, they will want to help protect them too. Fierce to ignite a culture shift, Kristie encourages us to think more deeply about the choices we make—and the future we want to build—together.
Mike Bartolo
senior research scientist at Colorado State University
Mike was born and raised on a small, irrigated farm east of Pueblo and currently operates small farms in Otero and Pueblo counties and a ranch in Crowley County.
After attending graduate school, he assumed the position of Vegetable Crops Specialist and Manager at Colorado State University’s Arkansas Valley Research Center in Rocky Ford, Colorado. He has also helped develop several chile pepper varieties adapted to Southern Colorado.
Jessica Mills
farmer along the Rocky Ford High Line Canal
Jessica Mills, Farmer As a fourth-generation farmer in Colorado’s Lower Arkansas Valley, Jessica Mills grew up along the Rocky Ford High Line Canal on her dad’s farm, where they grew corn and alfalfa filled the fields.
She and her husband, Wyatt, farm with their three children between Manzanola and Fowler, raising alfalfa, corn and sorghum-sudangrass.
Jessica’s work extends beyond the farm gate. In addition to farming and family, she manages a third career as an Educational Outreach Coordinator, sits on several local and regional boards, and is deeply committed to educating the next generation of agriculturalists—especially when it comes to protecting the region’s most vital resource: water.
Robert Sakta
agriculture water policy advisor for Colorado Department of Agriculture
Robert is a farmer, and was named the first to serve as the first Agricultural Water Policy Advisor by the Colorado Department of Agriculture in 2023.
Sakata is President of Sakata Farms Inc. in Brighton, which was started by his father Bob, and currently cares for 2,500 acres of irrigated farm ground between Brighton, Platteville and Hudson. He attended the University of Colorado studying Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology and child psychology.
Sakata was appointed by Gov. Jared Polis in 2021 to serve on the Colorado Water Conservation Board as a representative of the South Platte Basin. He has served on boards for the Fulton Irrigation Company, Brighton Ditch Company and the New Brantner Irrigation Ditch Company.
Get Tickets!Join the conversation on social media with the hashtag #SunFest2025.
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