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John Hollenhorst ReportingSalt Lake County's last remaining full-scale dairy with cows is about to ride off into the sunset. The cows are heading for the wide open spaces of Payson, crowded out by the furious pace of development in the Salt Lake Valley.
Take a look at the cow's new neighbors in Draper: cars, strip malls and homes. The Day family has been running the dairy for more than 80 years. They've had cows much longer than that, going back to the early 1850's. But now they've sold out the land. They're getting ready to round up the herd and head south.
Their new operation will be in Payson, where cows and their inevitable by-products are a little more appreciated. Scott Day remembers when there were empty fields all around, but now modern-day Draper is crowding the cows.
Scott Day, O-Day Dairy: "I think it's incompatible, yeah, definitely. I worry about it. I worry about my cows getting loose on the road. I worry about trying to control my odor, so I don't get complaints."
The collision between old-time agriculture and modern-day business is most obvious across the street. At a pizza parlor, they think the dairy's departure will be good for the pizza business.
Stephanie Noyce, Pizza Manager: "Wooo Hooo! Ha ha." Question: "You're happy about it?" Answer: "Yeah, a lot less stench. It stinks outside."
The plan is to move the herd as soon as the new dairy in Payson is complete; that's probably sometime in May. As far as we know, that will leave just one real dairy operation in the valley, one where the business is carried on by goats, not cows.
