In April of this year, Utah orchard farmers had to grapple with nothing short of a “gut punch,” as the Utah Farm Bureau put it: Freezing temperatures decimated entire crops, resulting in popular events like Midway’s Apple Harvest getting canceled.
Notwithstanding the cultural tradition of harvest festivals like the one hosted by Midway’s historic Huber Grove Orchard, the financial and economic repercussions of this year’s late freeze have left many Utah orchards and farms in a tough situation heading into the winter.
On top of the late freeze, local farmers have had to contend with wildfires, droughts, and soaring gas prices. As the harvests wind down and fall approaches, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and other sources of agritourism become vital to Utah’s agricultural industry. Of course, it helps that these attractions are always a lot of fun.
Kara Lewis, owner of Glen Ray’s Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch, is a local farmer who’s struggled with this unusually difficult year. Her family is continuing an agricultural legacy that has lasted for over 150 years in the area, and their fall attraction is one of the main ways she and her family can recoup some of the losses that this year has dealt them.
“The drought has been really difficult for us this year,” she said. “Our pumpkins have struggled, and some varieties haven’t done nearly as well as they normally would. It’s just not enough water and too much heat.”
For farms like Glen Ray’s, agritourism becomes an exercise in creative entrepreneurship. “We know a guy who raises sheep, and he doesn’t shear them without charging people to come watch,” Lewis said. “We’re always asking how to monetize day-to-day stuff that’s totally mundane and normal to us because it’s so exciting and different to somebody else.”
This year, Glen Ray’s has invested in a few new agricultural attractions that have helped boost business. “So this year we just added a few little activities, and we added more options for our food,” Lewis said. “We also brought in a few more animals.”
In addition to autumnal activities like a corn kernel pit, super slides, and tractor-pulled cow train, visitors can stock up on locally grown pumpkins and snag a few other farm fresh items at the attraction’s general store.
During our conversation walking the grounds of Glen Ray’s, Lewis often mentioned the resilience needed to be a farmer. She recognizes that this year was particularly bad, but her experience with farming has helped her get creative during the lean years and be grateful for years when the harvest is plentiful.
“I remember our first year running Glen Ray’s, we had 12 straight days of rain, and people were getting stuck in the parking lot,” Lewis said. “My dad just looked at me and smiled and said ‘welcome to farming.’ You just have to be optimistic because you’re at the mercy of mother nature.”
Lewis and I spoke a lot about her own family and the opportunities that Glen Ray’s has given them to develop their own sense of entrepreneurship. It’s something she hopes to continue for future generations, but the labor of love can be difficult to pursue.
“People want the open spaces, but at the same time our fuel costs are insane this year.” She also said her family has been approached by developers looking to purchase the farmland. “My dad gets called weekly from people wanting to buy this property, and everyone around us has sold to development now,” she said. “We’re kind of the last to hold out right here.”
After Lewis and I wrapped up our conversation, I rejoined my two daughters who had been playing together in the corn kernel pit. While there was a part of me that was grumbling about sweeping those little kernels out of the laundry room for the next week, a bigger part of me was happy to see them outside and enjoying a brief moment of silliness together.
If sharing a moment like this with my kids is what it takes to support a local farm in a difficult year, it’s really not too much to ask.
Related: 7 super-seasonal things to do in Salt Lake County this month
