Utah keeps up trend of fewer, smaller farms

Utah continued a trend of fewer and smaller farms as midsize operations are being forced from the profession.

"The characteristics of farms are shifting," said Rick Kestle, a statistician with the Utah office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on Tuesday released preliminary findings of the 2002 Census of Agriculture for the state and compared it with 1997 figures. Unlike census data collected on U.S. residents every 10 years, the ag census is conducted every five years.

The latest figures show the 15,295 farms and ranches in Utah were 3 percent lower than in 1997, or a loss of 515 farms in five years marked by drought.

"Those that are struggling more economically are the ones that are going to be hit hardest by the drought and low commodity prices," said Randy Parker, director of the Utah Farm Bureau.

A farm is considered any operation that has sales of more than $1,000, and many barely made the cut.

The number of farms with sales less than $2,500 grew 38 percent in the last five years, to 7,414.

"What we got is a lot of people who are farming as a part-time thing," Kestle said. He said many of these are "hobby farmers" or people who have retired and kept a few acres for themselves.

Some also are finding it more difficult to make a living solely off the farm. Of the state's 15,295 operators, 49 percent listed farming as their primary occupation, but 61 percent also had a job off the farm.

"The more you have to bring that income into your farm operation, the more difficult it is to justify" staying with it, Parker said.

Meanwhile, the number of midsize farms, those with sales over $10,000, fell 21 percent, from 6,332 in 1997 to 5,019 in 2002. And the number of large farms — those with yearly sales of more than $500,000 — grew by seven, to 330, in 2002.

"The big guys are still there, and they are fine," Kestle said. "Where you're getting the loss are the little guys. These folks are being squeezed out.

"They either need to get bigger or they slip away," he said.

Increased moisture this winter and faith in higher commodity prices give Parker hope the next five years will be much better for the state's farmers.