High Desert Hay & Forage is locally owned and operated by Lowell Whitaker. He was born and raised on the farm he now runs, with his son Matt Whitaker.
The farm came to the family in 1948, when his grandmother Eva Barlow moved to Vale from Utah after her husband was killed in a tractor accident. They raised dairy cows, hay, potatoes, beets, wheat, and corn. Her son Allen Max took over the farm and continued operating it while also driving the local milk truck route. This was when milk was still picked up from the farm in large 30 gallon cans.
In 1984, after building his own dairy herd, Lowell moved back to Vale and bought out his father. In 1986, the dairy was shut down and he focused completely on row crops, the backbone of which was growing potatoes for Simplot to be made into fries.
