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Show WATER FOR UTAH ... Food for Utah ... For the West and for the Nation . The variety of crops grown on Utah's farms and range lands provides the State's population with most of its food requirements. Its contribution of beans, cabbages, cantaloupes, carrots, celery, sweet corn, onions of all kinds and pungency, peas and tomatoes to neighboring states and to states far east of the Mississippi is great. It produces corn, oats, barley, wheat, rye, potatoes, sugar beets and hay of all varieties. Its fruits and berries are renowned: apples, cherries, peaches, pears, apricots, plums, prunes and various kinds of small fruits and berries. Its livestock products include milk, butter, cheese, condensed milk, eggs, turkeys, honey and wool. Its grazing areas supply large quantities of iambs and beefs to the feeding lots of the Middle west. The succulence and excellence of the products of Utah's irrigated lands provide them with a trademark recognized the world over. The principal markets for Utah's agriculture comprise three general geographic areas: the local or home market, the markets of California and the markets of the states east of Utah. The first two are growing in relative importance. The home market area includes not only Utah but also portions of adjoining states, particularly for bulky and perishable foods such as milk, eggs, fresh meat, fresh vegetables and fruit. This market is expanding in proportion to the requirements of the growing local population. Utah's California markets are the result of California's expanding population, which has caused a deficit in its supplies of eggs, poultry, hogs, beef cattle, dairy cows and dairy products, feed grains, and certain fruits and vegetables. For instance, in 1944, 90% of Utah's egg shipments went to California. Somewhat in harmony with the westward movement of population, Utah's eastern markets have been shifting westward also. However, this shift has been selective so that the states to the east are still major consumers of Utah's feeder cattle and sheep and many varieties of fruits and vegetables. The former are going principally into the Plains States, while the latter reach as far as the eastern seaboard. The most striking characteristic of Utah's agricultural production is that the demands for its products are greater than the supply. California could use a great deal more of Utah's foods, such as livestock products, feed grains and some of its fruits and vegetables. Eastern demands also exceed present supply, but Utah can do nothing under present conditions to meet these rising demands; although Utah has the fertile land and the skilled farm population, it does not have the water required for expansion. In a sense the demands on Utah are a foretaste of the situation which may develop in the United States. The expansion of population in the Nation is creating inexorable pressures for more agricultural production. Furthermore, the place of the United States as a supplier of food to the world will be maintained and most probably expanded as the standards of living of a major part of the world population are raised. This population of over two billion people requires some three acres per person for the pro- ruction of adequate food supplies, or a total of six billion acres. It is estimated that there are only four billion acres available for farming at this time; some great nations will never be able to provide sufficient acreage for their own needs. Furthermore, the world's population is increasing annually at a rate of about 1%, creating further unbalance. Therefore, those nations - such as the United States - which have the land and the many modern skills to utilize it most efficiently must stress their own facilities to help less fortunate nations in the world community. It has been estimated by the U. S. Department of Agriculture that by I960 the United States will need to produce 17% more agricultural products for food, clothing and industry than it did in 1940. This will require the cultivation of an additional 69,000,000 acres. The problem, now clearly recognized, requires for its solution the maintenance of existing acres at a high level of productivity by means of better cropping practices, the abundant application of commercial fertilizer and a high degree of soil conservation. It will also need the bringing into cultivation of acres now idle, by means of clearing, [ 22] |