Weber County's Wadeland Dairy one of many Utah dairies coping with wet spring

WARREN, Weber County — Clint Wade is a fourth-generation dairyman who is milking cows much differently than his great-grandpa. Despite his impressive state-of-the-art milking parlor on a carousel and computer-monitored ankle bracelets on every cow, one thing hasn’t changed — when it rains, it pours.

Since the nearby Weber River receded slightly over the weekend, operations on Wadeland Dairy in Warren are not as critical as they were last week. The pump the dairy installed on an earthen dike dug by Weber County workers is turned off but not removed.

“A little more rain or a lot of sunshine could bring the waters right back,” said Clint Wade. His father, Blaine Wade, confirmed, “If it turns warm, things could become critical real fast.”

Only a railroad track and a few soggy acres separate the river from hundreds of calving pens full of newborn Holsteins and Jerseys. The Wades have 1,600 milk cows, more than 1,500 heifers and 26 employees to help keep operations running smoothly. They grow some feed crops but buy more than 50 percent of needed corn silage and 80 percent of their alfalfa from other producers.

The Wades produce 100,000 pounds of milk per day, supplying local cheese companies like Gossner’s and Beehive Cheese; the latter uses the Wades' milk exclusively in its line of artisan cheese.

Driving over a dirt road that was recently submerged, Clint Wade points to 300 swampy acres of productive farming land on which planting has been delayed by at least a month this season. More than 40 acres are clearly under water, and the Wades doubt the area will be useful at all this year.

While their Holstein and Jersey herds won’t have to be moved even if floodwaters return, their commodity sheds and haystacks were in peril and could be again.

“We’ve got several different kinds of grain stored and all the minerals,” Blaine Wade said. “It’s pretty expensive feed, so protecting that was our first priority and we’ve got it in control now."

The Wades certainly remember the floods of 1983 and have expanded operations since then. They bought more ground, including the south dairy, where Clint Wade’s family home had to be sandbagged to survive.