USA: Cache Valley losing its barley lead

Cache Valley farmers still produce more barley than anyone in Utah but maybe not for long, Y=according to The Salt Lake Tribune, June 3.

Millard County, already the state's top producer of alfalfa and hay, has now risen to the number two spot for barley.

Part of the reason is central Utah's increasing emphasis on dairy. Most of the state's barley and alfalfa is used as cattle feed and, in 2006, Millard County surpassed Cache County as the state's top dairy region.

''Millard has several large dairies. We probably have more dairies, but theirs are bigger,'' said Clark Israelsen of Utah State University's Cache County Extension office.

Allen Young, a Utah State extension specialist, said the trend is part of a demographic shift in Utah.

He says farms still dominate central Utah but Cache Valley is becoming more urbanized, making the land more valuable for development than farming.

''By and large, Cache Valley is being taken over by so many people coming into the valley,'' he said. ''I was talking to someone in insurance, and he said on average 265 families a month move out of Cache Valley but 2,300 move in. With growth like that, pretty soon, it's hard to keep an agricultural enterprise going.''

The number of dairy cows in Millard County grew by 800 between 2006 and 2007 while Cache County lost about 2,200.

Michael Clawson, a third generation dairy farmer in Hyrum, has seen the changes as more people have moved into the area.

''We can't grow like we would need to,'' said Clawson, who doubts the farm will be in his family 50 years from now.

Cache County Councilman Gordon Zilles said his daughter is taking over the family farm but is feeling the development squeeze.

''I'd be surprised if we're here more than 20 years,'' Zilles said. ''It is harder and harder to make ends meet . . .You feel really sad that you are losing many of your farmers.''

03 June, 2008