Utah Department of Agriculture and Food reports increased demand for processing grants and water‑optimization projects; flags staffing and funding gaps

Commissioner Wilson Butters (identified in testimony as Commissioner Butters) and division directors from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food told the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee about program successes, workload growth and specific funding gaps across several agency programs.

Caroline Hargreaves, director of Marketing and Economic Development, described the Utah Food Security Processing Grant program. She said the program has distributed three separate one‑time appropriations over three years and awarded 59 grants statewide that ranged from small $5,000 awards to larger grants supporting meat and dairy processing. Hargreaves gave examples: Wall Brothers Orchards increased apple processing by 75% after a $30,000 award; Davis Custom Meat increased annual harvest capacity; Sunbow Farms increased processing from 500 to 4,500 pounds per week after a roughly $24,000 award; Heber Valley Cheese bought a boiler and expanded…