Mike Lindley works at his dairy farm in Meridian, Idaho. He and his father, Randy, milk 350 Holsteins on leased land, which has been sold to the West Ada School District to be used for a new high school.

BOISE, Idaho — For more than two decades, Gerald Flower’s family operated a dairy farm in rural Meridian. The farm on Ustick Road, just west of McDermott Road, lies at the western edge of Ada County.

Flower’s father bought the farm around 1966, after moving from California, where the family also operated a dairy farm. In Meridian, the family milked about 200 cows until 1987. Flower later raised cattle on the property until he semi-retired in about 2000 and began leasing his property to other farmers.

Over the years, as Meridian grew, developers interested in Flower’s 95 acres came calling. The property, within eyeshot of the Lactalis American Group cheese factory in Nampa and Interstate 84, could have been prime land for a housing development for people who might want a short commute to jobs in Nampa, Meridian or Boise.

Early last year, Flower and his wife, Phyllis, instead sold 90 acres of their land — they retained about 5 acres, where they have rental houses — to the West Ada School District for $2.5 million. The property, which was appraised at $2.7 million, with the Flowers donating the other $200,000 back to the school district, was chosen for a new $60 million high school that the district hopes to open in fall 2020.

Though they get up before dawn and often work until sunset, most farmers love their lifestyle and take pride in bringing their crops, milk and animals to consumers’ dinner tables. But selling their land for development can help achieve a more-comfortable retirement. Farmers who reside in populated areas and who can sell their land for development are financially luckier than those far from the urban fringe.

“Anything in Meridian that’s a farm right now is not selling as a farm,” said Shawn Endicott, an associate broker with Silvercreek Realty Group in Meridian.

FOUR DAIRY FARMS LEFT

Flower is one of the lucky ones.

Ustick Road alongside the farm used to be a quiet country road but is now a busy thoroughfare. He and his wife moved several years ago to a home three and a half miles farther west on Ustick. There are times in the evening, as people get off work, that it takes 20 to 30 minutes to drive the short distance between the two.

“I’d hate to be a farmer now with all of the traffic,” he said.

Meridian began as an agricultural settlement. The first creamery was established in 1897, six years before Meridian incorporated as a town.

Dozens of small, family-operated dairies once dotted the Meridian landscape. It wasn’t long before Meridian became known as the dairy center of Idaho. That heritage is reflected in the annual Dairy Days celebration, which will celebrate its 90th year next June. Today only four dairies remain.

Since 1990, when Meridian’s population was 9,596, the city has grown elevenfold. Earlier this year, the Community Planning Association of Southwest Idaho said Meridian’s population had risen to 106,410. It’s Idaho’s second-largest city, behind Boise.

‘GROWTH ... IS PUSHING US OUT’

The growth has come through new housing developments and businesses. That has increased pressure on owners of open land and farmland. Since 2000, 11,091 acres of farmland in Meridian and its surrounding impact zone have been converted for other uses, according to Carl Miller, a senior planner with COMPASS, the Treasure Valley’s regional planning agency.

“The growth of Meridian is pushing us out,” said Randy Lindley, a second-generation dairy farmer who leased Flower’s dairy operation for about 13 years and now pays the school district. “It’s affecting us, but we’re not being negative.”

Meridian land can go for as much as $150,000 an acre. In Parma, where production of hops and grapes has exploded, farmland sells for between $7,500 and $11,000 an acre, Endicott said. She recently sold a farm between Kuna and Melba for about $9,000 an acre.

Lindley, who is assisted by his son, Mike, and five other workers, have until March before they must leave the property. They’ve looked for another spot to relocate their dairy, but so far haven’t found anything suitable. They’ve widened their search to outside the Treasure Valley and outside Idaho.

He said he tried to buy the land he’s on from Flower, but the price was too high.