Cutting Back Alfalfa and Hay Crops is Vital to Helping Great Salt Lake, Study Finds

By Sheri Quinn

A new study published Tuesday zooms in on just how much farmers in the Great Salt Lake basin need to cut back on livestock-feed crops, and suggests how to make it easier for everyone.

The scientific study, published in the journal Environmental Challenges, hones in on cattle-feed crops in the Great Salt Lake basin, where there are about 1 million beef and dairy cattle. Utah produces about 1% of the nation’s beef cattle and less than 1% of its dairy, and it’s no secret the majority of water in the state goes to livestock feed crops such as alfalfa and grass hay.

Brian Richter, lead author of the paper, said about a third of the cattle-feed grown in the basin stays in the basin, the rest is exported to Idaho, California and overseas, primarily to China and Saudi Arabia. According to the study, the feed generated an estimated $162 million in receipts in 2021 (0.07% of Utah's GDP).

“These farmers and ranchers are just making business decisions. They are growing the crops they are making the best returns on, understandably,” said Richter.

Through their qualitative analyses, the researchers discovered ways to change some of the basin's cattle-feed trade arrangements in order to decrease water consumption, which Richter said needs to be reduced by 35% to restore Great Salt Lake to its ecologically healthy level. He said one option is to increase the amount of feed imported from other areas of Utah or from adjacent states. In fact, basin producers already import about two-thirds of their cattle-feed.

“So we felt that it might not be too difficult or disruptive to import just a little bit more to satisfy that beef and dairy production,” said Richter.

The demand for dairy products in the U.S. is skyrocketing, particularly for cheese and yogurt. Richter said yogurt consumption in the nation has increased more than 200 percent over the last two decades.

“There is a reason they are using the water to grow the crops. It's because of the foods we are demanding, that we need. And so it’s not that we all need to stop eating beef. You know, it’s the yogurt and the cheese as well, it’s all of us.”

In light of this demand, and to keep the farmers in business while also conserving water for the lake, the researchers came up with different scenarios that would decrease basin cattle-feed production while also preserving farmers' livelihoods. The most potent one, he said, is a 61% reduction of alfalfa and fallowing up to half of all grass hay production, resulting in a loss of $97 million each year in agricultural revenues.

Compensating the farmers for their losses has a big 'sticker shock' of at least $100 million a year over a decade, said Richter.

“That’s the scale of investment and activity that we are going to need, and it could be more than that.”

This option would cost $29 to $124 per year per Utah resident. Richter pointed out that $100 million is far less than the annual state budget.

The study authors acknowledged that cities and industries need to contribute to water saving measures as well in order to restore and stabilize Great Salt Lake. However, their data pinpoints cattle-feed crop reductions in the basin as the target for making the biggest impact in the least disruptive way.