Black Island Farms is located along the wetlands in Syracuse, Utah. This is where our fourth generation, 250 acre, active vegetable farm has been operating for over 45 years. Over the past 50 years we have employed hundreds of young men teaching them the values of hard work. Our farm manager Alan Briggs has worked here for 36 years,he started working here when he was 13 and had been his only job. You can’t put a value or price on that. Black Island Farms also celebrates the farming community’s strong link to the local landscape. In fast developing Syracuse., Our farm remains a treasured expanse of open space valuable farm land.

During the fall we host Black Island Farms Harvest Festival
Festival Highlights include a 25 acre maze, the largest in Utah, as well as a Utah’s Own farmers market, educational pumpkin hayrides, straw mt., animal alley, cow train, pig races, a haunted house, and much, much more. The bottom line is that the harvest festival is much more than a corn maze. We offer an array of attractions that are meaningful to the community, like agriculture education and farmland preservation. Every autumn, in the beautiful farm fields of Syracuse,over 40,000 Utahans come to treat their families to a day of enrichment and entertainment.And over 6,000 students on educational field trips….. all of them Driving through the heart of Syracuse. During our festival we employ 125 teens and adults. Each of the proposed routes devastate our farm, our livelihood. Syracuse is known for it’s small farm town feel, integrity, safe place to raise a family. By taking away local farms and open space, you will take away what makes Syracuse special.

In the US we now have fewer than 2% of the population feeding all other Americans Here in Utah, farmers and ranchers make up less than 1% of our population.

Our dependency of foreign energy has increased dramatically over the past 50 years. Data and trends are showing that unless we work toward producing more of our own locally grown food that we could experience the same type of dependency on foreign food and fiber without the safeguards of our regulatory controls and reasonable prices. Current agricultural revenue in Utah exceeds $1.5 billon dollars worth of crops and livestock sales.Ponder the Following:

Between 2003-2008, Utah alone has been lost 500,000 acres of agricultural lands to development

We all eat – every person in Utah eats every day

We are all part of the calculated need – Utah population has increased 22 percent since 2000 while the nation as a whole is only at 8%.

You as leaders have the responsibility to plan now – data indicates the real need exists

We don’t want to become completely dependent on outside food and fiber sources

We need to maintain more local production. By doing so you’ll be helping preserve the environment, and you’ll be strengthening your community by investing your food dollar close to home

Thanks to Utah political leaders who looked to and anticipated the future of the Agricultural industry in Utah, we joined the Utah Agriculture protection act. Put in place to help guarantee that the farmer land could remain in agriculture production. For Utah this APA was a great milestone, but when compared with the long history of some of the communities around the world, we have come but a short way,. Utah must learn from the hard lessons experienced by some of European communities who elected to grow houses on on their fertile lands instead of food. They are now paying the price by having to import much of their food because they cannot grow it themselves. We must not repeat their mistakes. I encourage citizens and community leaders to take the steps necessary to preserve our vital agricultural lands and their link to our proud past.

We would like Syracuse City to support an alternate Bluff Rd. route that has been proposed by several members of the community and West Point.

The Bluff Rd. has been preserved as a major thoroughfare for years. Don’t alter what has been put in place by those before us and destroy what makes us so special. With an alternate Bluff route, we can have the best of both worlds, a beautiful city center with a thriving business community, and open space and farm land. Please use this as a statement that open space and growth can co-exist in a positive way.

Please take a few moments to inform our leaders, and request that we save open space and farm lands.

Thank you!
Dorathy Law
Black Island Farms

Contacts:

Gov. Gary Herbert - governor@state.ut.us

Lt. Gov. Greg Bell - gregbell@utah.gov

Senator Orrin Hatch – http://hatch.senate.gov

Senator Mike Lee – http://lee.senate.gov

Leonard M. Blackham, Commissioner of Agriculture - UDAF-Commissioner@utah.gov

Senator Jerry W. Stevenson - jwstevenson@utahsenate.org

Represenative Curtis Oda - coda@utah.gov

Senator J. Stuart Adams  - jsadams@utahsenate.org

UDOT - westdavis@utah.gov

Randy Jefferies, UDOT Project Manager - rjefferies@utah.gov

Back is 1976 he picked: spinach, turnips, rutabagas, asparagus, and green beans and graded carrots? Alan learned from some of the former farmers of BIF:Wes Jarvis, Guy Beazer, John Barns, and of curse the one he learned the most from, Charlie Black.

It wasn’t long and Alan quickly moved his way up into maintence, and also working the ground to farm and plant. Alan has a lot of pride in his work at the farm; he would challenge himself to make the straightest rows in the fields.

Alan is married to Teri and together they have raised 4 children. They have 4 grandchildren. The whole family feels like Charlie and Marta have influenced their lives. They are appreciative for everything that they have done for them, such as taking them on vacations and planning really fun farm parties. These are some of Alan’s family’s best memories.

Alan is a family man; he built his home next to his mom and both brothers. It is convenient that he works so close to home, so he can enjoy his lunch break with his mom almost daily.

Since 1976, Alan has seen many changes down at the farm. He has learned a lot and taught a lot. One thing remains the same is Alan’s love for farming.