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GoFundMe account set up to help Centerfield farm family

ByGreg Knight
Funds raised through the campaign will go to David and Lorie Beck and to offset water and pumping expenses or help cover income losses from damaged or abandoned crops.

CENTERFIELD—A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to assist a longtime Sanpete County farm after severe drought and record-breaking heat left the operation facing significant crop losses and water shortages.

According to the GoFundMe profile, Beck Family Farms, a family-owned operation in Centerfield for more than 40 years, has nearly exhausted its available irrigation water despite implementing water conservation measures and reducing the number of acres under cultivation.

The campaign was created by Erin Jasperson, a niece of farm owners David and Lorie Beck. Jasperson said the couple would be “unlikely to seek financial assistance on their own despite the challenges facing their operation.”

Jasperson said the Becks have previously managed drought-related water restrictions by “cutting back on planted acreage and adopting additional water-saving strategies,” but describes this year’s conditions as unprecedented.

Scan the QR Code.

“David and Lorie, along with their daughter are letting everything, the alfalfa, corn, grain, go in order to grow a few acres of summer veggies, pumpkins, and squash for their farmers market,” Jesperson said.

Beck Family Farms has been growing pumpkins, winter squash and alfalfa for decades. Since the 1990s, the farm has supplied pumpkins to grocery stores throughout Utah and neighboring states.

It also operates a farmer’s market that has supplied fresh produce to residents of Sanpete County for decades.

In addition to its own produce, the market offers locally produced goods, including honey, baked goods, meat and specialty items.

The GoFundMe profile also states the Becks have rented farmland elsewhere in hopes of salvaging its commercial pumpkin business for the year.

According to Jasperson, funds raised through the campaign will go directly to David and Lorie Beck and will be used to offset water and pumping expenses or help cover income losses.

The Becks are not the only rural Utah family business seeking public support this summer. In neighboring Piute County, Hoover’s River Resort near Marysvale has also launched a GoFundMe campaign, saying repeated wildfires and declining tourism have significantly reduced revenue and threatened the nearly 90-year-old family operation.

Scan the QR Code in this story for more information on the Beck Family Farms fundraiser.