WEST JORDAN -- The century-old Bateman Dairy here looks like a green oasis amid the new houses. But it's about to be plowed under by developers.
Brothers Dale and Dean Bateman have sold their 100-acre diary at 1300 W. 6785 South to housing developers to finance an expansion in greener pastures, 100 miles south in Levan, Juab County.It's a situation where housing is the more valuable crop, Kent Bateman said. "We had two choices," he said, "expand or close the doors."
And Bateman admits their decision goes against the grain of the movement to preserve the shrinking supply of open space in urban areas. "We've contributed to the urban sprawl by selling our property to finance (operating) someplace else."
Yet there are exceptions to the rule, State Agriculture Commissioner Cary Peterson said. A feed-lot operation just doesn't work within a metropolitan area.
"Batemans are doing the wise thing," Peterson said. They are moving to an agriculture area where the nearest neighbor is more than one mile away, he added. The zoning laws in Juab County protect them from the onslaught of subdivisions.
Still, it's not easy for Kent's father, Dean Bateman. The dairy is more than just a home to 300 milking cows. It's a family legacy and landmark. He has lived here all his life and loves it. So have the thousands of schoolchildren who have visited the dairy over the years.
"This thing really hurts me," Dean Bateman said. "I was born here 80 years ago, surrounded by 100 acres, and now there will be houses against my house."
About five years ago, the Batemans began to feel the pressure of growth. And, the land leased to them to grow hay was sold to housing developers. That meant buying hay, which eats up their profit. They started looking for a buyer. Two years ago they struck a deal with developer Don McArthur, who plans to build 80 homes on their pasture.
"For us it's great," said Dave McArthur, the developer's son and partner. It has spectacular views of the Jordan River and Wasatch Mountains, plus easy access to the freeway, he added.
The Batemans also have started building 80 homes of their own on 20 acres of land. They created a partnership with a real estate company and architectural firm and call their development "Spring Hollow."
"We just gave up trying to keep it agriculture," Dale Bateman said. "We couldn't make a living with a few cows. We need a big herd of cows, and there's not enough here for a big herd."
There's also been the kinds of hassles that come with living next to urbanites, Kent Bateman said. Dairy operators sometimes milk around the clock and often bale hay at night. It is possible that agriculture can disturb a neighborhood's peace and quiet.
People complain, Kent said. Mostly motorists hate it when they get behind farm equipment, he added. "One guy gave me the one-finger salute because he couldn't get around me."
The newcomers may not only get a view of a working farm but the smells and sounds of one.
"One out of every four buyers will take a whiff and say, 'This doesn't bother me at all,' " said Alan Ferguson, a real estate agent with Mountain West Real Estate Services, the company in partnership with the Batemans. Clearly not everyone likes it, he added. Some homeowners wouldn't have bought a home if the dairy and its cows were to have remained there long term, he added.
Dale and his wife, Norma, are reluctant to dismiss the newcomers as whiners. They maintain a good sense of humor about it all.
"Once in awhile someone will kid us," said Norma. On windy days, someone will say, 'I got a whiff of you last night.' "
Some, in fact, have moved into homes next to Bateman's manure pile. "When the wind blows north it gets into their faces," he said. "There's two homes so close to the dairy you could toss a rock in the window."
The attraction: "There's a country air about it," Dale said. "People move out in the country and buy a couple of acres."
Now that the Bateman Dairy is within the city limits it's virtually impossible to stop the urban sprawl, Peterson said. The Batemans could have kept their land in open space if they converted the dairy into an orchard -- something more compatible with the suburb.
But the Batemans love what they do. The Batemans' is one of the last two dairies left in the Salt Lake Valley. And it's the kind of farming that's been a family tradition.
Dale and Dean's grandfather, William Lehi Bateman, homesteaded here more than 100 years ago. He raised sheep. Their father, Thomas Phillip Bateman, raised sugar beets and hay. It wasn't a money-maker, Dale said. So, he and Dean converted the farm to a dairy operation in 1946.
In those days, the nearest neighbor was miles away. There was little traffic on the rural roads.
Things started to change about 30 years ago when a developer took a piece of ground that couldn't be farmed and turned it into a trailer park, Dale said. "We were not wise to see that was the sign of the future."
Other homes began to sprout. Across the street from the Batemans is an apartment complex. Down below them are large, expensive homes.
Dean's wife, Sybil, said she is saddened by the congestion.
"When I drive 1300 West, I don't recognize it," she said. "It's a lonely feeling. It's not what it was."