Farmers, ranchers say they’ve never seen anything like this year’s drought

MANTI—To coin a phrase, conditions in Sanpete County are “drier than dry.”

Water is being measured by its absence. Springs that normally run cold and clear from the Wasatch Plateau have dwindled to a trickle

After the warmest winter ever recorded and the lowest snowpack since 1930, Gov. Spencer Cox declared a statewide drought emergency in May, with all 29 Utah counties classified in severe drought and most in extreme drought.

Across Sanpete County, green fields are turning yellow and dusty under a hot sun, reminding residents that the snow that normally feeds the region’s streams, reservoirs and livelihoods simply never came.

“My dad says in his 84 years, he’s never seen it this bad,” Scott Christensen, an alfalfa and grain farmer in Centerfield, said. “He says 1977 was a pretty bad year, and I remember that, but this year has been worse.”

Stan Jensen, operator of Sunny Side Up Pastures, also in Centerfield, said this year’s drought has cut deeply into his production and forced the 560-acre beef operation to rely on feed reserves to make it through next winter.

Jensen, who runs about 150 head of grass-fed cattle, said Sanpete County’s ongoing drought has left producers across the region facing what he described as “massively reduced yields” and uncertain feed supplies.

“This is probably all the hay we can grow for the year,” Jensen said pointing to hay bales occupying less a fraction of what a full barn is normally. “We’re crossing our fingers that this will get us through the next winter because we still have to feed through the winter.”

The operation’s hay shed, which Jensen said can typically hold about 2,400 tons of hay, currently contains roughly 280 tons.

“Half of what’s in here is actually hay I kept from last year when I started to see the writing on the wall,” he said. “If I only had…the hay I’ve produced this year, I would be in a world of trouble.

“In agriculture, water is money,” Jensen added. “There’s almost a direct correlation—the amount of water you get to the amount of money you can make.”

Jensen said in a typical year, the Gunnison Irrigation Co. would provide him about 1.5 acre-feet of water per share. This year, he said, allocations have dropped to roughly 0.15 acre-feet per share, about 10% of normal.

“We might end at 0.2 for the year, so about 12 to 13% of a normal water year,” he said.

Jensen said the financial impact on the family operation is effectively proportional to the loss of water. “Essentially, just take your own income and take 10% of it,” he said. “That’s your income for the year.”

Jensen’s experience reflects challenges being felt throughout the Gunnison Valley. Christensen, who farms approximately 285 acres of alfalfa, grain and corn, said water shortages have forced him to dramatically reduce the amount of land he can irrigate this year, resulting in lower crop yields and higher operating costs.

Like many producers in Sanpete County, Christensen relies on irrigation water delivered through a network of pipelines, sprinklers and center pivots. However, as water supplies have diminished, irrigation allocations have been repeatedly reduced.

“This year, I’m watering about one-third of my farmable acres,” he said.

To conserve limited water supplies, Christensen said he chose not to plant new crops this season and instead focused irrigation on established hay fields. Following the first cutting of hay, water deliveries were reduced twice more, forcing additional cutbacks.

“We were watering about 90 acres, and now we’re only watering 40 acres,” Christensen said. “We’ll probably get a partial second crop of hay on that.”

The reservoirs Gunnison Valley farmers have always relied on have been depleted. “We had no water in Gunnison Reservoir,” Christensen said. “Nine Mile Reservoir went dry about a week ago. Now we’re just running on the live streams out of Six Mile and 12 Mile canyons, and those streams are way down from what they normally run.”

The reduced water supply is expected to have economic consequences for the Christensen family’s farming operation. “It’s been pretty dismal,” he said.

In a typical year, Christensen produces enough hay to feed his cattle herd and sell the rest. He also raises corn used in turkey feed. After harvest, cattle normally graze on the remaining corn stalks through much of the winter, reducing the amount of stored feed required.

But this year, Christensen said, “I’ve had to buy hay,” he said. Anticipating shortages, Christensen purchased 10 semi-loads of hay from Idaho earlier this spring.

“I bought that for about $250 a ton delivered to my place out of Idaho,” Christensen said. “Today, I don’t think I could find hay under $375 a ton.”

While larger farming and ranching operations are coping with reduced water allocations and feed shortages, some smaller producers are adapting their operations to a drier future.

Heidi Hodgson, co-owner of Small-Time Farm in Fairview and organizer of the Fairview Farmers Market, said the lack of winter moisture prompted significant changes to the farm’s plans for 2026.

Owned and operated by Heidi and her husband, Cody Hodgson, Small-Time Farm is a regenerative agriculture microfarm. The approximately 1-acre operation produces heirloom vegetables, leafy greens, herbs, flowers and berries using organic, pesticide-free practices.

Historically, Heidi Hodgson said the farm’s production has consisted of annual crops grown in rows, with roughly 80% dedicated to flowers, 15% to vegetables and berries, and the remainder to medicinal herbs.

“For annual row cropping, the drought would mean devastation because our crops are heavily dependent on water,” she said.

Hodgson said the farm chose not to begin its usual seed-starting program this year. Instead, the operation is “focusing on rebuilding soil health and preparing for a transition to more drought-tolerant crops.”

Through assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “We’re going to be bringing in about 700 cubic yards of manure and compost to enrich our soil organically,” she said.

Eventually, Hodgson said, nearly the entire farm will be planted in perennial crops, which develop deeper root systems and generally require less irrigation once established.

The transition is intended to reduce the farm’s dependence on supplemental water while making it capable of withstanding dry conditions.

“The idea is if we can hit our mark well and get a few years of good moisture,” the farm will be in good shape, Hodgson said. “If not, then we’re going to have to use culinary water to help establish those perennial crops through the first two years.”