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Show SPECIAL SECTION. Animals need feed and the Sorensen's provide much of their own. They own approx- imately 1,100 acres and lease another 100 acres. Much of the ground is flood-irrigate- f . "li' f l1 LEADER-GARLAN- rI .,, I TIMES. February 17. 1977. Page ed about staying on the farn and will take less mone; than they can make some where eise to do it." "We've got to have thi new generation," Sorensei explained."there's too man; older people" on the farms ' He cites the average age o farmers as compared, fo instance, with the average age of managers at big chaii stores as a case in point. Sorensei Unfortunately, feels there is "no way in tht world" a young man "car buy a farm right now" with, out - some sort of specia backing. And that is a tragedy ir D . d from the Howell reservoir. But the Sorensens are experimenting with on about sprinkler irrigation 100 acres. The sprinkling system is used on some sidehill ground too steep for flood irrigating without washing away valuable topsoil. The farmers invested in pipe- they have to move by hand, not wishing to invest in the more costly pipe until the experiment proved out. One reason for concern was the amount of minerals found in the Howell Valley water. Sorensen said he was concerned about build-u- p of the mineral in the sprinkler . pipes. "Some of these people think about all you can do is try," he said. The experiment is working well thus far, yielding - self-movi- u fen $ t rk - ,t generating f'A 7771 to Sorensen raised seven tons of hay to the acre off one piece of ground he sprinkles, which would probably have yielded half that much previously. The farm also produces hay, barley and wheat with the intention that it will be feedback to the animals. The wheat is sold to buy barley for feed. "The idea is to put it back through into a finished prod' uct," Sorensen observed. "Sometimes : it comes but and sometimes it doesn't." The diversity of the operation provides a number of advantages to the family. "We're markting contin- ually, which we feel is an advantage, especially raising a family which takes so darn much to live," Soren-- , sen said. He and his wife have three boys and one daughter still at home in addition to the two boys who are married and help out on the farm, and two other married daughters. Another advantage is the ability to keep current. "So iar, we've been able to pay our bills as we' go," Sorensen pointed out. "We don't have to borrow an amount of money to operate on and this has been a real advantage to us." "I feel its been the main reason wevebeen able to. keep the boys on the farm" he added. "It's a IxsiAy operation, not an individual. It takes us all to make it go," he added. But there are disadvantages. One is that it's "hard to keep up on things," the farmer confided. "Everything is getting to be more of a science... you- 've got to produce. ..you can't be a flunky." When you're diversified it means there are just that many more facets of agriculture to keep up with. That's one reason Sorensen is a believer in education. "There's so many fields in which they (farmers) need to be skilled... it takes too long to learn on the farm... too much trial and error." Besides being an agriculturist, a farmer has to be a -- nev ideas. ..They're going t( make a lot of mistakes bu' they will come up with somt new ideas." The family farm, Soren sen added, has got to be operated on a larger scale tc compete. "I don't think there's any way you can sta on 40 acres any more anc make a living. ..some ol these facts we've got tt Vt more uniform irrigation with better penetration the soil. Sorensen's eyes, because youth are the ones who "art mi- -it II.-- imniii. www . .THE SORENSEN FARMis a family operation. Ray Sorensen (at left) is helped by his two sons (I to r) Barry mechanic as well, he pointed out. If a farmer had to pay someone to fix everything, it' "would break us." Sorensen said he's trying to think about expansion. "Barry wants to come back on the farm," he noted. One idea the family is mulling around in their mind is that of coming up with an operation to slaughter their own animals for delivery to markets-cutti- ng out the middle man. "Our chickens worked out . really good," he pointed out. "It's the easiest money, that in the middle." Sorensen doesn't run as much new equipment as some other farmers because he doesn't feel he should "tie that much money up." "Maybe it hurts me in expanding,", he shrugged, "probably our generation is a little too conservative." Sorensen gives much of the credit for his conservatism to his father who experienced the depression. One obvious indication of his father's influence is the practice of Keeping enough grain in the bin for a year ahead. "Dad taught me that early," he said. Sorensen is a firm believer in the family farm and the work," something "they don't appreciate until they get older." Working on a farm. young-ster- s "have to learn to think," he added. Sorensen admits there has to be more give and take when a number of family members are involved in the running of a farm. Once a month, he and his wife take their two married sons and their wives out for dinner, making sort of a "business meeting out of it. They enjoy that." Another advantage of a family farm is that there's always someone around to take over if one of the families wants to go on ' GOOD THE WORK! I if IIUU3MER IMPLEMENT 45 S. M fflKI4' W. TRBS0N1DN, UT. 257-342- 5 up with expenses is the obvious reason, he said. In 1948 he sold a bushel ol wheat for $2.50. Today he gets the same price. Meanwhile, a harvester he bought e and Bart. Bart works on the farm. Barry works at Thiokol as well as helping out on the farm. full-tim- vacation. The last few years "young people's values are chang- jng. They're more concern- - cont. on next page Salutes benefits it provides for bringing up a family. . Youngsters learn responsibility and "learn how to KEEP UP r t , lace.". Farmers are in trouble Sorensen admits. "More farmers are in bad shape now.. .than I've ever seen." Failure of income to keep Agriculture in the Bear River Valley A vital part of our community And Congressmen Gunn McKay Jake Garn Orrin Hatch |