TAKEAWAY
As growth continues in the state, pressure will be put on prime agricultural lands.
Most of the state’s fruit and vegetable production is concentrated on the Wasatch Front and in Cache County.
Efforts to gauge Utahns’ values related to land and natural resources consistently find that agriculture ranks high as part of the state’s history, but more importantly as part of its desired future. Access to locally grown, high-quality food is important to people in Utah (Envision Utah, 2014). The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food’s 2021 Strategic Plan calls for expanding water optimization while protecting agricultural lands and developing innovative food processing and distribution systems that will strengthen local food security.
Most of the state’s fruit and vegetable production is concentrated on the Wasatch Front and in Cache County, areas with ongoing commercial, industrial, and residential development pressures. All have lost agricultural, forest, and range lands to development in the past 20 years.
The 2017 Census of Agriculture (taken every 5 years) shows that between 1997 and 2017, the number of farms in Utah rose from 15,810 to 18,409, but average farm size dropped from 760 to 587 acres on average. “Average” farm size does not tell a full story as the census also found that 63% of farms in Utah are between 1 and 49 acres. Irrigated agricultural lands have been more affected by urban development than non-irrigated lands, and are left in smaller, more irregular patches and with less connectivity among patches. This fragmentation challenges famers’ efforts to optimize water use, move equipment, and creates more opportunities for residents who live near small farm plots to find some cultivation practices a nuisance.
