- Central Utah farmers said severe drought, frost and strong winds have led to the worst conditions they've seen.
- Farmer Neil Sorensen said his alfalfa crop is far below where it should be.
- Scott Sunderland is struggling with irrigation, raising concerns about his long-term crop viability.
SPRING CITY, Sanpete County — Central Utah farmers said a combination of drought, frost and strong winds has created some of the worst conditions they have ever seen.
Farmer Neil Sorensen said normally, fields across the Sanpete Valley would be lush and green this time of year. Instead, he said conditions look more like late summer.
"The frost, the wind and the drought, it's just took a toll on all our crops," Sorensen said.
He primarily grows alfalfa but also grows grass and barley, grass mix and potatoes.
Sorensen said his alfalfa crop is far below where it should be.
"Right now, you can see it's below my knees," he said, adding that even his best fields are struggling.
"We pulled all the water and everything off of hundreds of acres and concentrated it here because it's a good piece of hay, and it's still not what it should be," Sorensen said.
He said warning signs began during the winter.
"We never pushed snow this year on our farm," Sorensen said. "We totally rely on snowpack for all our irrigation."
A dry spring has made matters worse, bringing an increase in pests.
"On a normal year, you have to have a wet spring and then that kills the grasshopper eggs. The grasshoppers are just, thousands of them, tens of thousands, and they just eat everything," Sorensen said. "The weevil (will) hold out the hay back to where it won't grow, and so they devastate the crop."
Sorensen said he hates using pesticides, but he's spending the money to spray to try and save some of his crops. He said diesel is also a huge expense, adding more financial stress to farming.
"This year's going to be a complete bust for us," he said. "Your farm will go in debt. We'll have to borrow money to keep operating and keep going."
Nearby farmer Scott Sunderland said he's facing similar challenges.
"It's hard. You try to be positive," Sunderland said. "You wake up every morning, you go to work, and you go out and farm, but when you go around your farm and you come up here and you see this and you look at it and you know you've got nothing. So you quit coming up here."
Sunderland said a severe spring frost forced him to abandon much of his crop.
"It froze it right back to the ground," he said. "It basically had to start over again on a year when we didn't have any water to start over."
He also said strong winds are making irrigation difficult.
"I don't water in the day unless I absolutely have to, because I'll lose about anywhere from 35% to 50% of my water," Sunderland said. "I water at night and it's even blowing at night and I'm losing 10(%)- to 20(%)-, 30% at night of my water. I'm already at about 10% of my water for the year."
The ongoing conditions have raised concerns about the long-term viability of crops like alfalfa.
"This year's making me wonder, 'Are we going to be back to a dust bowl?'" Sunderland said. "I am very concerned because when you don't have nothing for your cows to eat, you're going to pasture what you have to and try to get what you can. And that's going to make it so that this topsoil here, it'll just blow away when it gets loose."
Sorensen said this year's alfalfa and grain crops are a loss. He is experimenting with alternatives, including planting herbs to sell at farmers' markets, and edible lavender, which he'll sell to nearby restaurants.
"I wish we knew of what alternative crops we could go to," he said. "We're trying anything and we're open to any suggestions of what we could do. Obviously, alfalfa and grains isn't cutting it this year."
Farmers also warn that dry, bare fields increase wildfire risk, as areas that would typically be covered in alfalfa can easily ignite.
