Local Perspectives on Agriculture

Agriculture is an integral part of the story of Cache Valley. Its fertile soil was one of the great attractions for its early settlers.To understand how changes in farm structure have affected the valley's residents, we interviewed four individuals with extensive experience in agriculture.

The following pages capture excerpts from recordings of our interviews with four types of respondents: a valley wheat farmer on an active family farm, an agricultural scientist and Dean of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences at local land grant University Utah State, the co-owner of a local industrial chicken farm, and the agricultural extension agent for Cache County.

Marie Christensen is a member of the Christensen family, who has owned and operated a dry wheat farm near Box Elder County for more than a century. She discusses family farm life and the influences farm life has had on her family. 

Ken White is the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences at Utah State University. His background is in Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, and he originally came to USU as an associate professor in that subject. He has received many prestigious awards including recognition for his leadership role in nuclear transfer research, which resulted in the first live clone of a mule (and of any animal in the horse family) ever produced.

Clifford Lillywhite is the co-owner of Oakdell Egg Farms, Inc. which has a facility based in Lewiston, Utah and another in Franklin, Idaho. They sell eggs to stores all over the mountain west.

Clark Israelsen is the agricultural extension agent for Cache County. His areas of expertise are dairy production, irrigated and dry land crop production, and oilseed crop production.

As you navigate through each page, click the play buttons to hear each an excerpt from each interview.