LOGAN – The Johnson Family Farm in Benson grows a variety of produce. They sell a lot of it locally. They not only sell their goods at the Cache Valley Gardner’s Market, but also operate Home Grown Produce located at 58 West 400 North where they sell their locally-grown produce and commodities from other local vendors.
Johnson’s recently received a $40,000 grant to support their potato and onion washing line from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food’s (UDAF) 2024 Utah Food Security Processing program.
Johnson Family Farms operates Local Produce located at 58 W. 400N. in Logan where the sell some of their homegrown vegetables.
Apple Berry Farm in Logan was awarded $31,250 to support their apple processing and preserving operations.
Other area agricultural operations like the Juniper Meat Company of Willard, Ranch 25 Family Farms in Portage and Roo Crew Farms in Fielding all were awarded grants to boost their food production and distribution abilities.
Caroline Hargraves, director of marketing and development, said the Utah Food Security Processing Grant program was designed to address critical deficiencies in Utah’s food supply chain by increasing processing capacity of locally grown and raised foods, thereby enhancing food security for residents across the state.
The Program was created to address severe supply chain issues in Utah. Many people experienced the bare grocery shelves during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Utah produces only 2-3 percent of the state’s fruit and vegetable needs, and even with that relatively small amount much of it goes out of state for processing, washing, packaging, etc.
“The farmers we work with often say they’d love to sell everything they grow in state and consumers are interested in fresh, locally-grown and raised food,” she said. “Through this grant program we’ve been able to increase the local processing capacity of locally grown and raised agricultural products supporting rural and urban businesses and consumers.”
Every year the state agency has issued grants from $1,500 to $150,000 to meat, poultry, fruit, vegetables, and dairy processors throughout the state.
“Through successes from previous rounds of funding, past recipients have increased their processing capacity by as much as 900 percent,” Hargraves said. “A meat processor in Ogden is harvesting 832 more head of cattle and 300 more pigs a year, a Bear Lake raspberry producer more than doubled their production capacity, and a potato producer in Benson increased their washing speed by 10x with no damage to the potatoes.”
Local Produce sells apples and other produce at their market located at 58 W. 400 N. in Logan.
In response to the pressing need for stronger local food systems, the Utah State Legislature initially appropriated $1,000,000 to UDAF for this program in the 2022 legislative session. The success of this program was continued with additional $1,000,000 in appropriations in the 2023 and 2024 legislative sessions, totaling $3,000,000 to support the expansion of small meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetable processors.
“Utah has severe processing deficits for locally produced agricultural products,” said UDAF Commissioner Craig Buttars. “Supporting the development of processing infrastructure is key to the long-term viability of the state’s agricultural producers, building a more secure regional food supply chain, and ensuring consumers have access to nutritious local products. This program has made immense impacts to the state’s food supply chain and we are grateful for the continued support of the State Legislature.”
UDAF officials said the program has been highly successful by benefiting local farms and ranches, processing businesses, and has increased the availability of locally produced foods for consumers.
In the 2024 application cycle, the state agency received 113 applications totaling over $10 million in requests.
For more information and to see the other recipients, visit https://ag.utah.gov/foodsecuritygrant/