Valjay Rigby is the newly-elected Utah Farm Bureau President, and a fifth-generation farmer from Cache Valley.
Based in Newton, Rigby’s family focuses on growing small grains, alfalfa, safflower and beef cattle. Rigby grew up on the farm with his father and grandfather, then attended Utah State University for a bachelors in finance and a masters in information systems.
In an ever-changing industry of agriculture, Rigby loves that he gets to try new things.
“The opportunities to innovate and to think and to, and to be able to, you know, be an entrepreneur to try new things," Rigby said.
With a scientist father, Rigby said that his farm was always a place for new experiments. They tried growing new crops like peppermint and spearmint.
“We love growing peppermint, but we found that you know, we couldn't get the production that we needed. Because our growing season was just a little too short here and the winters were hard on it,” said Rigby.
Rigby said he feels fortunate to have raised his family on a farm because he’s been able to teach his family diverse skills and life lessons through agriculture.
“They grew up learning how to work to move pipe and to drive tractors and drive semi. And it gives them confidence for other things in life that they're able to do,” said Rigby.
Rigby declined a job offer in Texas to stay in Newton to farm full-time, and to raise his family in Cache Valley. He’s drawn to the valley for the peace and beauty of the environment. He loves the values and sense of community that members of Cache Valley share.
“We feel really lucky that my wife and I, Raelyn, were able to stay here and raise our family here,” said Rigby.
