BENSON – Johnson Farms of Benson was one of 10 recipients to receive a share of The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) food security program’s $1 million grant program. UDAF received 79 applications from 26 counties with over $14 million in requests.
Johnson Farms was the only Cache Valley farm who was able to secure money from the food security program.
The grant was to reimburse ag industry producers with fewer than 100 employees who are making an immediate impact on the state’s capacity to boost Utah-grown products.
Johnson Farms asked for $250,000, but were allocated less than $50,000. They were the only farm in Cache Valley that received money from the Utah Food Security Processing Grant Program.
“We are a fourth-generation farm that my brother Braydon and I run,” Kelby Johnson said. “We grow a variety of produce and we have a retail location.”
The commercial produce operation run by the brothers grow a variety of crops and produce that impacts the agriculture industry in Cache Valley.
“We grow potatoes, onion, sweetcorn, winter squash and about a dozen other vegetables on a small scale,” Kelby said. “A lot of our potatoes and onions are sold in local grocery stores like Lee’s, Ridley’s and other local stores.”
During the 2022 Legislative Session, UDAF was appropriated $1,000,000 to provide grants to small meat, poultry, fruit and vegetable processors to make immediate impacts to processing capacity to improve local food security.
“We also run the Local Produce Market located at 58 W. 400 N. in Logan,” he said. “There are about 10 different local farmers that bring produce to sell at there.”
Other farms that received a portion of the one-million-dollar grant were:
Ashton Farms
Chad’s Raspberry Kitchen
Cornaby’s
Davis Custom Meats
Heber Valley Cheese
Nay’s Meats
Payson Fruit Growers
Riley’s Orchards
Salsitas Mendoza
Sarver Meats
Snuck Farm
Sunnyfield Meats
Tooele Valley Meats
V Dot Meats
4 Point Meat Processing
UDAF is looking at options to secure more funding for the program in the upcoming legislative session to provide grants that are geared toward strengthening food security for the people of Utah.
For more information on the grant and to view application requirements, visit https://ag.utah.gov/foodsecuritygrant/.
Gotta love that socialism.