It’s been an especially hard year for farmers. Statewide shutdowns forced many to find alternative distributors for their products. When the Utah Farm Bureau announced its Farmers Feeding Utah project in May, it offered farmers an additional way to sell their products.
Bob Rogers, owner of Bonneville Farms Produce, was one of those farmers negatively impacted by the coronavirus. When Rogers heard about the Farmers Feeding Utah Program, he signed up hoping to participate in any way.
“A couple of weeks later they called me about being able to distribute some of our sweet corn to the food bank in Delta and in the Fillmore area," Rogers said. "We are delighted to be able to have our product get out there and get used rather than get plowed under or get dumped.”
In the past, crops from Bonneville Farm Produce sold at farmers markets and local, mom and pop-type businesses. They tried to attend more farmers markets, but businesses shut-downs left Rogers with an excess of produce he had no outlet for.
Due to the coronavirus, Rogers said the food they didn’t use for people became livestock feed. Farmers Feeding Utah helped decrease the amount that became feed.
“Some of the people that got it were people that really needed it," Rogers said. "As I understood, some people were out of jobs and really economically challenged at the time. So it helped them and it helped us.”
