Last month, U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans (R-CO) filed what appears to be a corrected financial disclosure form, showing that he earned $345 in “livestock and beef sales” last year.
The scant $345 in profits means Evans’ property, where he lives in Weld County, may no longer fall under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) definition of a “ranch,” which must “normally” generate $1,000 in sales of agricultural products.
Evans’ office pointed to the USDA’s definition of a ranch last year when asked how the congressman justifies promoting himself as a “rancher” on the campaign trail and in Congress — when he raises just a “few cows” as a hobby.
“Don’t just take it from him – the USDA agrees,” she said, referring to his disclosure last year that he made $1,709 in beef sales.
Evans’ office didn’t respond to an email asking if he would now stop calling himself a rancher, because his income of $345 has fallen below the USDA’s $1,000 threshold.
It appears that he’ll continue as he has in the past. In recent months, he’s referred to himself as a “beef producer” and posted images of himself and his family with Longhorn cows.
When he entered Congress, Evans moved his three cows to a family friend’s ranch in Kiowa for caretaking, and he considered giving up the tax break he receives on his Weld County property.
It’s not known what his current plans are for his Longhorns or where they are, but he’s acting as if he’s still got his bovine hobby.
“I raise a few cows, and so that means I have to do all of the things that cows require,” he said. “Fix fence, haul hay, fix the tractor that moves the hay bales around, de-ice water tanks in the winter, work on all of, you know, the F-350 that does all of hauling, so that’s how I grew up, and I like being close to ag and working on machinery.”
On Monday, he posted a photo of himself on X driving an ATV with a bull calf in tow. Along with the photo, Evans wrote, “I fight for Colorado’s farmers and ranchers because I know firsthand that agriculture isn’t a 9-to-5 iob. Tonight, one of our bull calves found a hole in the fence and wandered into the neighbor’s pasture. After a late-night roundup, he made it safely back home. It’s hard work, but it’s a way of life I’m proud to be part of — and one l’Il always fight to protect.”
His latest social media promotions are a continuation of how he’s presented himself in his rural district since he started his political career — posting photos of himself in cow fields, images of his kid petting a cow, stories about his cows’ unusual behavior, and more. He calls himself a “rancher” and “beef producer.”
Critics, like former U.S. Rep. John Salazar (D-CO), who had about 500 head of cattle when he was elected to Congress in 2004, told the Colorado Times Recorder last year that Evans is “all hat and no cattle.”
It appears that Evans’ property does not “normally” generate $1,000 from livestock and beef, as required by the USDA for his land to be called a “ranch.” Evans’ first two federal financial disclosure forms, filed as a congressional candidate in 2023 and 2024, list no income whatsoever from ranching. In his 2025 form, filed as a congressman, he claimed $1,709 in earned income from “livestock and beef sales.”
Evans’ current (2026) disclosure form, filed May 15, lists $345 in beef income. It appears to be a correction of another 2026 form, filed on May 14, that lists the same figure, $1,709, for beef sales found on his 2025 form, meaning he likely made a mistake on his form. All the figures in the “earned income” section of his 2026 form were identical to the numbers on the 2025 form.
Agriculture is a key industry in Evans’ district, which is ranked as one of the most competitive in the country and may determine which party controls the U.S. Congress after November’s midterm elections.
It’s the 21st highest cattle-producing congressional district in the country, and ranks 101st among congressional districts in the market value of all agricultural products sold. Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, which is mostly north and east of Denver, contains 325,000 cattle and calves.
The average farm there sells $721,000 worth of agricultural products.
July 10, 2026 08:27 AM UTC
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