supports a $47 billion dollar economy with more than 426,000 employees and $1.7 billion in exports. Farming and ranching takes 32 million acres of Colorado land. Colorado's agriculture consumes 88% of the state's water or 4.7 million acre feet. The northeast of the state has the most agricultural business. Drought has been one of the main risks to the agricultural industry. From 2012-2013 drought fueled a political push for the federal government to subsidize crop insurance. This led to $196 million in subsidy to Colorado farmers in 2014. Colorado farmers paid over $71.3 million for crop insurance in 2020. Colorado's agricultural industry has been fueled by agricultural technology especially through research with Colorado State University which began as an agricultural school in 1870. Impacts of climate change Aerospace Colorado is one of the top locations for the aerospace industry in the world. Colorado has offices for most of the major Aerospace companies such as Ball, Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon Technologies, Boeing, L3Harris Technologies, ULA, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Space, and Maxar Technologies. This industry employs over 240,000 Coloradans in 280 companies. The industry continued to experience strong growth of 7.2% in 2019 to contribute over $15 billion to the state economy. The aerospace industry thrives in Colorado owing to its geographical centrality, being away from possible foreign threats, support from Fort Carson, and a highly educated population. Research is also conducted at government-funded labs such as NIST, LASP, NOAA, and UCAR. The University of Colorado Boulder also has one of the nations top aerospace programs, receiving more NASA research funds than any other school. See also Colorado Companies List of companies with Denver area operations List of power stations in Colorado References External links The State of Colorado The City and County of Denver Economy of the Southwestern United States