- Mountain View Mushrooms in Fillmore is closing after over 50 years in business.
- The farm cited low yields aging equipment and staffing challenges as closure reasons.
- Residents express sadness and gratitude; most employees have found new job offers.
FILLMORE, Millard County — Every time Buffy Baum drives through Fillmore, she makes the same stop.
"Anytime we come south, we stop and get at least a 10-pound batch," she said.
For the past decade, buying mushrooms at Mountain View Mushrooms has been more than a shopping trip for her; it has become a tradition.
"They're fresh. They last a long time," she said. If only they would last forever. After more than 50 years in business, Mountain View Mushrooms is closing its operation.
The family-owned farm cited low yields, aging equipment, and ongoing challenges in finding employees as the reasons for closing. Unlike many business closures, this one has not been met with anger.
Instead, people across Millard County have responded with sadness and gratitude.
"Everybody's starting to hear about it, and someone said it's like hearing about a death in the family," said Seth Peterson, who is the agriculture manager at the plant.
Mountain View Mushrooms first opened in 1974 and grew into Utah's only commercial mushroom farm.
The company supplied mushrooms to restaurants including Panda Express, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and Café Zupas, along with grocery stores and food-service distributors in Utah, Nevada, California and other western states.
Peterson said nearly all of the hundred or so workers at the plant have already found another job or received another offer.
"They're all going to have jobs," he said. "So that's pretty good." Even so, he said, losing the business feels personal for many people in Fillmore.
"They're sad about it. It has really touched them. Almost all of them had at least somebody in their family that's worked here at some point," said Peterson.
For people like Baum, who made a habit of stopping in Fillmore for a box of fresh mushrooms, the final harvest marks the end of a tradition she has shared with her family for years.
"It's really sad," said Baum. "My mother-in-law is going to be very upset when she finds out when I go home."
