Capital press., March 11, 2016, Page 5, Image 5

March 11, 2016
CapitalPress.com
5
Nampa Ag Forum plans to highlight
important role ag plays in local economy
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
Sean Ellis/Capital Press
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Water situation in Malheur County
vastly improved from recent years
this winter and the reservoir is
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ONTARIO, Ore. — The ly better than last year,” said
Owyhee Reservoir could pro- Oregon farmer Bruce Corn, a
vide the 1,800 farms in East- member of the OID’s board of
ern Oregon and part of Idaho directors. “It certainly looks
that depend on it for irrigation promising.”
a normal water supply for the
The reservoir peaked at
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205,000 acre-feet of usable
The reservoir provides wa- storage water last year but was
ter for 118,000 irrigated acres already closing in on 300,000
in Malheur County in Eastern acre-feet as of March 8, ac-
Oregon and around Homedale cording to OID Manager Jay
and Marsing in southwestern Chamberlin.
Idaho.
“We’re feeling pretty good
Snowpack levels in the about the outlook,” he said.
Owyhee Basin, which feeds
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the Owyhee River and the res- have varied between 3,000
ervoir, have been bleak the past and 5,000 cubic feet per sec-
four years and the Owyhee Ir- ond recently, which means the
rigation District has only been reservoir is receiving between
able to provide the irrigators 6,000 and 10,000 acre-feet of
who depend on the reservoir water every day.
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Chamberlin said it takes
of their normal 4 acre-foot al- more than 400,000 acre-feet in
lotment the past two years.
the reservoir for every OID pa-
OID patrons received 1.7 tron to receive their full 4 acre-
acre-feet last year and 1.6 acre- foot allotment.
feet in 2014.
While there is still a ways to
As a result, farmers have go before that level is reached,
left a lot of farm ground idle “I think there’s a pretty good
DQG VZLWFKHG PDQ\ ¿HOGV WR chance we’ll have a full allot-
less water-intensive crops that ment this year,” Corn said.
are also less lucrative.
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But snowpack levels were the basin two weeks ago, said
well above normal for much of snowpack levels are at the
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
point now where it would be
helpful if warmer tempera-
tures or some good rainstorms
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mountains and into the reser-
voir quickly. Otherwise, a lot
of the water could seep into
the soil and never reach the
reservoir.
“We’re hoping that the
rains predicted for later this
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out and into the reservoir,” he
said March 8.
Corn said the ground in the
valley is wet and stock ponds
are full, which means river
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if the predicted rains do mate-
rialize.
Farmers in the region are
more optimistic heading into
this season than they have
been in several years because
of the improved water situa-
tion, said Nyssa farmer Paul
Skeen, president of the Mal-
heur County Onion Growers
Association.
“People are very optimistic
they will get their full allot-
ment,” he said.
The OID will hold its an-
nual meeting March 22 at the
Four Rivers Cultural Center in
Ontario and could announce a
tentative 2016 allotment then.
NAMPA, Idaho — The
Nampa Chamber of Com-
merce will host an Ag Forum
on March 16 so farmers, agri-
business representatives and
members of the local non-
farm business community
can discuss agriculture’s im-
portance to Canyon County.
In its third year, the event
is meant to raise awareness
of the important role agricul-
ture plays in Canyon County
and to discuss issues relevant
to the farming and ranch-
ing community, said Debbie
Kling, president and CEO of
the chamber.
“The economic impact
of agriculture is substantial
in our communities, and the
event brings businesses and
agriculture together to look
at what our needs are in the
future,” she said.
The event also affords
farmers a chance to connect
directly with non-farm busi-
nesses, said Middleton farm-
er Sid Freeman, who will be
part of a panel that will dis-
cuss ag-related issues.
“This is a phenomenal op-
portunity for the agricultural
industry to rub elbows with
the local business commu-
nity,” said Freeman, a board
member of Canyon County
Farm Bureau, which is help-
ing sponsor the event. “In
agriculture, we are always
preaching to the choir. This
gives us that opportunity to
go outside of the choir.”
Though one of Idaho’s
smallest counties in size,
Canyon County ranks No. 5
when it comes to farm-gate
receipts — $513 million ac-
cording to the 2012 Census
of Agriculture — and it has
2,333 farmers, by far the
most in the state.
“Canyon County has a
rich and dynamic agricul-
tural heritage,” Idaho State
Department of Agriculture
Director Celia Gould said in
an email. “I am grateful to the
Nampa chamber for hosting
the Ag Forum to highlight
the importance of an industry
that continues to be the life-
blood of Canyon County and
beyond.”
The county is also expe-
riencing rapid growth and a
panel of agribusiness repre-
sentatives will discuss how
that could affect agriculture.
“I see tremendous growth
taking place in Canyon Coun-
ty,” Kling said. “With that
growth, we need to continue
to raise awareness of the im-
portance of agriculture in the
county and what the impact
of that growth might be on
agriculture.”
Nate McKnight, manager
of a Canyon County Darigold
facility, also plans to discuss
the labor challenges the in-
dustry faces.
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thing we’re talking about
these issues and we’re
pleased to see this event take
place,” he said.
Wendell Robinson, agri-
culture manager for Amal-
gamated Sugar Co., will dis-
cuss recent federal legislation
that will allow Idaho to in-
crease its interstate highway
truck weight limit.
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