After a period of layoffs and heavy losses following the completion of an Intermountain Power Plant, Millard County has become a dairy paradise, exporting truckloads of milk derived from locally raised dairy cows who eat locally grown grain, silage and alfalfa. A recent two-day tour that included multiple stops in Millard County and a tour of Danone North America’s plant in West Jordan highlighted the nexus that exists between water, alfalfa, dairy farmers and fresh milk transformed into yogurt by the international company that controls the global market share. The tour was organized by Salt Lake County Council member Dea Theodore and, for the first segment, hosted by the Millard County Farm Bureau. Theodore said she was inspired to learn more about rural water usage because of the Great Salt Lake’s problems and criticism leveled at the agricultural sector, particularly alfalfa farmers. “There’s been a lot of talk that they are consuming more water than they should and in coming down here, you learn that’s really not the case,” she said. “It’s interesting to learn along the way all that they are doing to conserve, what they are doing for the efficiency of their operations, the jobs that they provide for the local economy and to help the state.” In fact, the 400-mile long Sevier river system, which flows through southwest and central Utah, was studied by Utah State University and was found to be the most efficient among watersheds surveyed in a global examination. “A single drop of water is used six or seven times,” said Mike Styler, a Millard County farmer, former commissioner, state legislator and previously the director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources. The water is taken out for farming or for other uses and returned to the system. Over and over and over again. |