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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah's farms grew in size and number between 1995 and 2005, even as the state's population was one of the fastest-growing in the nation, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
Agriculture officials said most of the farmland increases are due to how the federal government defines a farm. Changing land values and uses, they said, increasingly mean that many larger suburban lots are counted as "farms," even if they have just one horse, a cow or a child with an ambitious 4-H project.
The new federal data show that Utah ranks second in the nation for the percentage of land added to agricultural uses between 1995 and 2005. That's up 1.8 percent, or 200,000 acres (an area about three times the size of Salt Lake City).
Utah is one of only seven states that saw any increase, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data analyzed by the Deseret Morning News. Nationally, the amount of land used in farming decreased by 4 percent, or 38.9 million acres, about the size of Georgia.
Experts said some more increases may come from land that is newly farmable because of improved irrigation systems. Some increases also may be attributed to farmers who sell out in urban areas and then buy much bigger replacement farms in rural regions.
"But anyone who argues that we haven't cemented over our farmland in Salt Lake, Weber, Davis and Utah counties has been up too long in the night," says Bruce Godfrey, a professor of agricultural economics at Utah State University.
In 2005, Utah's had the nation's fifth-fastest growing population.
USDA surveys report that Utah had 15,200 farms last year, up from 13,400 in 1995. Also, they say Utah farms covered 11.6 million acres last year, up from 11.4 million acres a decade earlier.
Randy Parker, chief executive officer of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, said a kink in how the federal government defines "farm" may have led to including larger suburban lots in the counts.
The federal definition of a farm, which has not changed since 1974, is "any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the year."
Parker said that with rising prices over time, "it is much easier now to produce $1,000 worth of products now than it was in 1974," or even 10 years ago.
Rick Kestel, director of the Utah field office for the National Agricultural Statistics Service, noted that landowners don't need to sell any agricultural goods -- only produce $1,000 worth to qualify as a farm.
Some communities, attempting to keep open space, have zoned for large lots up to five acres in certain areas, Parker said. If these property owners keep a horse or two, or a cow or other animals for 4-H club projects, it might be counted as a farm.
The USDA data, for example, show that 63 percent of Utah farms produce from $1,000 to $9,999 in products, the lowest of five economic sales categories measured. Only 2 percent of Utah farms are in the top sales class, producing $500,000 or more.
The average size of farms and ranches in Utah has also dropped over the past decade, from 828 acres to 763 acres.
Some farmers in urban areas are selling out to finance larger spreads in rural regions.
Dairy farmer Scott Day and his father, Henry, just sold their dairy farm in now-urban Draper. It was the last surviving commercial dairy operation in Salt Lake County. Day said that as new houses surrounded the farm, operating farm equipment on busier roads was more difficult. And there were some complaints about dairy smells.
So the Days sold to developers. With profit from their 26-acre farm, they were able to buy 160 acres in rural Payson, where they plan to expand their herd from 200 to 600 cows and buy more modern equipment.
"With new technology, we can milk and take care of 600 cows with the same amount of labor that it took before for 200 cows," Day said.
Utah has the highest-in-the-nation percentage of farm families who depend, at least in part, on nonfarm income to make ends meet, according to agriculture statistics.
Despite losses of urban farmland, the Utah Farm Bureau Federation said agriculture contributes $1.5 billion to the economy each year.
Parker said that number jumps to $3.5 billion -- and 100,000 jobs -- when production, processing, transportation and other farm-related industry is included.
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Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
