As Droughts Intensify, This Utah Family Farm Is Ditching the Monsanto Way
A traditional Utah alfalfa farm is radically changing its practices to survive a dry future
January 5, 2022 | Source: The Salt Lake Tribune | by Luke Peterson
Stan Jensen’s land in Centerfield was baked to a brittle alkali crust back in October. Walking across acres of what in a normal year would be green alfalfa, two little shadows chased us.
“Oh, they love it here,” said Jensen, referring to his son and daughter following in our wake and playing with the dormant pivot sprinkler. “Barefoot adventuring, and we don’t have to worry about where they’re at.”
For generations, the Jensen family has farmed several hundred acres in the middle of the Gunnison Valley growing the staple crop of Utah, alfalfa.
After the past few weeks of decent snow and rainfall, it’s easy to forget how parched Utah was just a couple months ago. That is unless you’re a farmer.
Gunnison Valley was hit particularly hard by this summer’s drought, and much of Jensen’s land went unwatered.
“This year was a bad year,” said Jensen standing in his near-empty hay shed, “but we’ve had seven consecutive years of drought. The land banks water, but droughts are cumulative and we’ve been overdrawn for seven years. One good year won’t save us.”
Jensen is a farmer by birth, but an engineer by training. It was his daughter Samantha that brought him back home to the family farm.