Strategies for
Agriculture

Key Strategies

  • Treat agriculture as a highly valued industry cluster.
  • Create new distribution channels for Utah farm products.
  • Create a toolbox of agricultural preservation options for Utah communities that are consistent with private property rights and Utahns’ values.
  • Keep irrigation water in food production.
  • Put new lands into agricultural production where feasible.
  • Shift agriculture from animal-consumed crops (e.g., alfalfa and hay) to human-consumed crops (e.g., fruits and vegetables).
  • Increase urban farming.
  • Apply worldwide best practices to meet Utah’s food needs.

This vision, created by Utahns, for Utahns, establishes a clear context, framework, and direction for policy discussions and actions to achieve the future Utahns want. Although government will play an important role, Utahns recognize that achieving the vision will also require a concerted, cooperative effort by individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations in the private sector.

Strategies

1. Increase the profitability of agriculture.

  1. Promote agriculture as an industry cluster with the same support that other important industry clusters enjoy in Utah.
  2. Assist farmers and ranchers in adopting new agriculture technologies to increase efficiency and yields.
  3. Capture additional profits on Utah’s agricultural products by increasing value-added processing of such products.
  4. Create new distribution channels for Utah farm products that cut out the “middle man” by selling directly to Utah consumers.

2. Keep Utah’s irrigation water and best farmland in agriculture.

  1. Identify high-quality agricultural lands.
  2. Assist agriculture in becoming more profitable.
  3. Create a toolbox of agricultural preservation options for Utah communities that are consistent with private property rights and Utahns’ values.
  4. Maintain use of irrigation water for food production, moving the water to other lands if necessary, rather than using it to serve communities and other industries.

3. Put new lands into agricultural production where feasible.

  1. Convert new private lands into agricultural lands.
  2. Encourage water-efficient practices and allow saved water to be shifted to additional agricultural lands where practical.
  3. Work with state and federal agencies to produce crops on some public lands.
  4. Improve rangeland management and explore new rotational grazing techniques to increase grazing efficiency.

4. Shift agriculture from animal-consumed crops (e.g., alfalfa and hay) to human-consumed crops (e.g., fruits and vegetables) where feasible.

  1. Study and address the barriers to growing fruits, vegetables, and other crops for human consumption in various areas of the state.

5. Increase production of and access to local foods in urban areas.

  1. Promote and increase the number of local food markets.
  2. Promote backyard agriculture and community gardens.
  3. Promote cooperative neighborhood orchards and gardens.

6. Investigate and apply the best worldwide practices for producing food in new, creative ways (e.g., vertical farming, ultra-low water use production, and co-locating with other industries for heating).