October 21, 2016
CapitalPress.com
11
Idaho
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Food Producers of Idaho to end the Ag Pavilion
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BOISE — Food Producers
of Idaho has announced it is
ending a long-standing pro-
gram involving agricultural or-
ganizations that cooperatively
staff educational booths at two
Idaho fairs.
Rick Waitley, executive di-
rector of Food Producers, said
the program, called the Agri-
cultural Pavilion, has been a
“tremendous success” since
its inception 22 years ago at
the Western Idaho Fair in Boi-
se, but the organization wants
to invest its resources in new
areas.
Members made the deci-
sion to end the program during
a Sept. 28 meeting and subse-
quently sent out letters alerting
groups that participated in the
Ag Pavilion of the decision.
“We’re looking for other
opportunities — several things
that might be good things for
us to look at,” Waitley said,
adding the organization might
participate in four or ive
smaller venues.
Agricultural groups that
participate in Food Producers
meet regularly during the leg-
islative session, and less fre-
quently during the rest of the
year, to discuss issues of im-
portance to their industry.
The Ag Pavilion includes
several booths from agricul-
tural groups — 51 groups had
booths in the most recent pa-
vilion — in a common area
focused on educating visitors
about Idaho agriculture. It also
includes games and activities
for children.
The second pavilion ini-
tially alternated between the
Twin Falls County Fair and
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
Tom and Terry Riemenapp learn about farming and Idaho agricul-
ture Aug. 23 in the Agriculture Pavilion at the Western Idaho Fair
in Boise. Food Producers of Idaho recently decided to discontinue
hosting the Agricultural Pavilion.
the Eastern Idaho State Fair
in Blackfoot but pulled out
of Eastern Idaho. It has re-
mained a ixture for the past
decade in Twin Falls, where
Farm Bureau and Food Pro-
ducers inanced construction
of a permanent building to
host it.
“We feel the investment
we’ve made in these two
fairs has been very valuable,”
Waitley said. “At the same
time, because of the invest-
ment we’ve made, we maybe
haven’t explored some other
things.”
John Pitz, manager of
the Twin Falls County Fair,
vowed to maintain an agri-
cultural theme in the building
where the pavilion has been
hosted.
“I can work with Farm Bu-
reau and igure out what to put
in there that would be ag-re-
lated,” Pitz said.
Waitley estimated the an-
nual cost of organizing the Ag
Pavilion at $30,000, but said
Food Producers netted a near-
ly $10,000 average proit, af-
ter accounting for individual
booth fees and other revenue,
such as sales from a country
store in the pavilion. The pa-
vilion’s proits have enabled
Food Producers to hold the
line on dues, Waitley said.
However, Wyatt Prescott,
president of Food Producers
and former executive vice
president with Idaho Cattle
Association, said it was get-
ting tougher to ind volunteers
to staff the Ag Pavilion, which
required a lot of work to host.
“I don’t think anybody was
thrilled about being done with
it,” Prescott said.
Prescott anticipates Food
Producers will now increase
its focus on educating state
policymakers about agricul-
tural issues.
Mark Dufin, executive
director of Idaho Sugarbeet
Growers Association and
co-chairman of Food Produc-
ers’ subcommittee governing
Ag Pavilion, added, “Some-
times it’s good to change and
take a new approach to reach
some new people.”
South Dakota woman granted wish to attend Idaho sheep festival
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The annual Trailing of the
Sheep Festival draws thou-
sands of people from all over
the world to Idaho’s Wood
River Valley each October.
This year, it drew one very
special guest — 20-year-old
Shelby Huff, who was given
full VIP treatment during the
ive-day festival through the
Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Huff, of Hill City, S.D.,
was granted a wish because
of complications from aplas-
tic anemia, a rare and serious
bone marrow disorder. She
was diagnosed with the con-
dition in November 2012 and
spent the next two and a half
years in and out of hospitals
enduring invasive treatments
and painful and life-threaten-
ing complications.
She says she’s healed now,
graduated from high school in
May and is attending Western
Dakota Technical Institute in
the pursuit of becoming a reg-
istered nurse.
It took time to get around
to her “wish” and she could
have chosen to go anywhere
and do anything.
“Ultimately, Trailing of the
Sheep was my wish,” she said
Carol Ryan Dumas/Capital Press
Courtesy of Trailing of Sheep Festival
Shelby Huff (fourth from left) poses with her mother, sister and grandparents in the hills outside
Ketchum near the band of sheep that would take center stage in the Trailing of the Sheep parade.
during a phone interview after
her Idaho adventure.
The festival, marking its
20th anniversary this year,
celebrates the rich history and
culture of sheep ranching in
the Wood River Valley. Huff
is not connected to ranching
but loves sheep and says they
are “super duper cute and
adorable.”
Her mother, sister and
grandparents shared in her
wish trip, which began with
a surprise reception at the
Boise airport, complete with
balloons, banners and Basque
dancers.
“It was so cool,” she said,
although it took a while to
register.
Then it was “oh my gosh,
they’re all here for me. Oh my
gosh this is such an amazing
greeting,” she said.
But that was just the begin-
ning. Huff and her family had
another reception at sheep fes-
tival headquarters in Ketchum
and were then settled in at a
“super nice” upscale condo,
which would serve as their
home base.
The VIP treatment contin-
ued throughout the festival,
where Huff and the family
participated with a trainer in
the sheepdog trials, attend-
ed the folklife fair and i-
ber-arts classes, lamb tastings,
the Sheep Tales Gathering,
Sheepherder’s Ball and the
The Trailing of the Sheep Festival in downtown Ketchum, Idaho,
is seen in this 2015 photo. The Make-a-Wish Foundation this year
granted 20-year-old Shelby Huff a wish, making her a VIP guest at
this year’s festival.
Trailing of the Sheep parade.
The family was also treated to
ly ishing and horseback rid-
ing by local outitters.
“It was great. I loved the
scenery, the culture, the histo-
ry, the dancing. It was just an
amazing trip,” she said.
The Idaho chapter of
Make-A-Wish contacted fes-
tival oficials in the spring to
get the ball rolling, said Laura
Musbach Drake, festival ex-
ecutive director.
“We were really thrilled
to give her an experience like
this,” she said.
Huff is a “darling,” and she
and her family were gracious
and grateful, she said.
“I know they had a great
time, and we were sure hon-
ored to have them here,” she
said.
Adding to the VIP experi-
ence, the governor proclaimed
Oct. 8 “Shelby Huff Day” —
a “super-cool” proclamation,
Huff said.
“The people there are
amazing and so sweet, and I
really appreciate what they
did for me and my family,”
she said.
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — Agriculture led
Idaho’s gains in gross do-
mestic product for several
years, but that has changed
as commodity prices —
particularly dairy — have
dropped.
Idaho’s gross domestic
product declined 0.2 percent
during the irst quarter of 2016
compared with the fourth
quarter of 2015, according to
data recently released by the
federal Bureau of Economic
Analysis.
Leading that decline was
agriculture, which had driven
the state’s large GDP gains in
recent years and helped carry
Idaho’s economy out of the
last recession.
Total GDP from the state’s
agricultural sector was a sea-
sonally adjusted $3.07 bil-
lion during the irst quarter of
2016, down 12 percent from
$3.5 billion in the fourth quar-
ter of 2015.
Compared with the irst
quarter of 2015, Idaho farm
GDP was down 17 percent
during the irst quarter of this
year.
“Leading the charge down-
ward was ... a weak ag econo-
my,” said University of Idaho
Agricultural Economist Garth
Taylor. “It’s a reversal from
what’s been happening.”
Idaho farm GDP increased
from $3.6 billion in 2014
to $4 billion in 2013 and
then $4.25 billion in 2014.
But a reversal began last
year.
Total Idaho farm GDP fell
from $4.25 billion in 2014 to
$3.7 billion in 2015, a 13 per-
cent drop. During that same
period, total Idaho GDP in-
creased from $63 billion to
$65 billion.
When it comes to personal
income, the decline is more
pronounced. Personal income
from Idaho’s farm sector to-
taled $1.8 billion during the
second quarter of 2016, down
22 percent from $2.3 billion
during the second quarter of
2015.
Farm proprietor income
in Idaho totaled $1.14 billion
during the second quarter of
2016, down 31 percent from
$1.66 billion during the same
period in 2015, according to
BEA.
The decreases are relected
in cash receipts for the state’s
top farm commodities. Six of
Idaho’s top seven farm com-
modities suffered declines in
cash receipts in 2015 com-
pared with 2014, according to
USDA’s Economic Research
Service.
Idaho farm cash receipts
totaled $7.5 billion in 2015,
according to ERS data, down
15 percent from $8.8 billion
in 2014.
Cash receipts for dairy,
Idaho’s top farm commodity
in terms of revenue, fell from
$3.2 billion in 2014 to $2.4
billion in 2015, while reve-
nue from cattle and calves
declined from $2 billion to
$1.95 billion.
On the crop side, potato
cash receipts declined from
$919 million to $872 million,
wheat receipts declined from
$647 million to $464 million,
hay fell from $551 million to
$440 million and barley was
down from $295 million to
$262 million.
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Farm commodity price drop impacts Idaho GDP
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