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April 7, 2017
Idaho
Idaho ag department gets 11 percent budget hike
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — The Idaho State
Department of Agriculture’s
total budget of $44.9 million
for fiscal year 2018 will be an
increase of 11 percent, or $4.9
million, over the current fiscal
year.
But the revenue the depart-
ment receives from dedicated
funds, which are fees people
pay for services, will actually
decrease 1.4 percent to $25.7
million.
That means farmers and
ranchers and others in the ag
industry who utilize ISDA
services face no significant
fee increases in the new fiscal
year, which begins July 1.
Most of the increase to the
overall budget — $4.1 million
— will go to the department’s
invasive species program to
buttress efforts to prevent
Sean Ellis/Capital Press File
Dry beans are harvested in a field near Nampa, Idaho, last Sep-
tember. Idaho lawmakers have agreed to increase the Idaho State
Department of Agriculture’s fiscal year 2018 budget 11 percent to
$44.9 million.
quagga mussels from invad-
ing Idaho waterways.
The budget includes an
additional $3.1 million in
general fund revenue and $1
million in expected federal
funding to open three new
watercraft inspection stations
and run a night-time inspec-
tion operation.
Lawmakers have made it a
priority to keep quagga mus-
sels, a freshwater invasive
species that can wreak havoc
in water ecosystems, from
reaching Idaho.
The ISDA got everything
it asked for in its 2018 budget
request.
“This budget, with its ap-
proved enhancement requests,
shows confidence in the ISDA
continuing to fulfill our mis-
sion to serve agriculture and
all of Idaho,” ISDA Director
Celia Gould told Capital Press
in an email.
Lawmakers also approved:
• $80,000 for an additional
organic inspection position to
handle rapid growth in ISDA’s
organic certification program.
• Spending authority for a
$447,000 federal Food Safe-
ty Modernization Act grant to
help determine the scope of
produce grown in Idaho that
will be covered by the act’s
produce safety rule, as well as
provide outreach, education
and technical assistance to af-
fected producers.
• An additional $160,000 to
cover costs of the department’s
ongoing methyl bromide miti-
gation efforts relating to fields
in Eastern Idaho treated with
the powerful fumigant under
a federal pale cyst nematode
eradication program.
• $99,000 for an additional
rangeland management spe-
cialist.
• $87,700 for a full-time in-
formation technology network
security analyst to help ensure
the information the department
has on thousands of farmers
and ranchers is secure.
“We hold a lot of sensitive
information here and we need
to protect it,” said ISDA Chief
of Operations Chanel Tewalt.
Largely as a result of the
increased money for the inva-
sive species program, ISDA’s
general fund revenue in fiscal
2018 will increase 40 percent
to $11.9 million.
Revenue from federal fund-
ing will increase 24.6 percent
to $7.4 million, also largely
from the expected $1 million
federal quagga mussels grant.
ISDA’s total $44.9 million
fiscal 2018 budget is still be-
low the department’s pre-re-
cession 2008 budget of $46
million.
Gould pointed out to law-
makers that most of the depart-
ment’s revenue comes from
dedicated funds.
“The majority of ISDA’s
services are paid for by those
using them and I think that’s
a great reflection of the finan-
cial health of the agency,” she
said.
UI Extension experts see
gains in local forage market
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BLACKFOOT, Idaho — A
severe winter has strengthened
regional demand for alfalfa, but
grower returns are still hover-
ing around the cost of produc-
tion, according to University of
Idaho Extension experts.
Extension educator Reed
Findlay, who oversees forage
and horticulture in Bannock
and Bingham counties, said the
average Idaho price for a ton of
alfalfa in 2016 was $114. Find-
lay predicts 2017 Idaho alfalfa
prices will average $144 per
ton.
“We’re seeing a lot bet-
ter prices than we saw around
Christmas time,” Findlay told
hay growers March 16 during a
UI forage school in Blackfoot.
“There is movement in the hay
markets, and they are better
than we thought they’d be.”
However, Findlay said large
hay inventories remain, and a
strong dollar has constrained
alfalfa exports. Findlay be-
lieves recent flooding through-
out Southern and Eastern Ida-
ho will cut into hay yields and
improve the local supply out-
look. He anticipates the cool,
moist conditions will also lead
to problems with phytophthora
root rot.
“This may be a lower pro-
duction year because of those
two factors,” Findlay said. “In
John O’Connell/Capital Press
University of Idaho Extension
economist Ben Eborn presents
his report on the cost of pro-
ducing alfalfa in Idaho during
a forage school March 16 in
Blackfoot.
the next few weeks, we’ll find
out more of what’s going on in
the alfalfa fields.”
Blackfoot grower Dave
Bingham said muddy field con-
ditions have made it tough to
access stacks and deliver hay,
further boosting local demand.
Lately, Bingham said local
straw demand has been on the
rise, as muddy conditions have
increased the need for bedding
during calving season.
Also during the forage
school, UI Extension econ-
omist Ben Eborn publicized
results of his Idaho alfalfa pro-
duction cost study. Eborn es-
timated the average southeast
Idaho grower spent $135 per
ton to raise hay in 2016, down
$2 from the previous year. Al-
falfa growers in Magic Valley
invested $146 per ton, down
by a dollar.
His model farm in south-
east Idaho had 1,250 acres of
land and yielded 6 tons of al-
falfa per acre. His Magic Val-
ley model farm included 2,200
acres, producing 7 tons of al-
falfa per acre.
Eborn attributes the slight
decline in production costs
largely to a 15 to 30 percent
drop in fertilizer prices, a 10
to 20 percent drop in chemical
prices and an 8 to 9 percent
drop in fuel and repairs for
machinery.
Eborn said fuel prices
should remain fairly steady
throughout 2017, and fertilizer
market experts anticipate fur-
ther price declines of 10 to 15
percent. Labor and irrigation
costs should continue to rise,
however.
He said his report is avail-
able at www.uidaho.edu/cals/
idaho-agbiz as a tool for grow-
ers to assess their own prog-
ress.
“If you don’t know what
your actual costs of production
are then how do you know if
you’re heading in the right
direction with your cost struc-
ture?” Eborn said.
Eborn advises growers who
must make cuts to start with
their largest expenditures first,
such as fertilizer and equip-
ment. Growers who don’t shop
around for fertilizer often miss
out on the best prices, he said.
Otter appeals dismissal of sage grouse lawsuit
By KEITH RIDLER
Associated Press
BOISE — Idaho Gov.
Butch Otter is appealing the
dismissal of his sage grouse
lawsuit against the federal
government.
Otter late last week filed
the notice appealing to the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia.
Otter sued in September
2015 after federal officials
opted not to list sage grouse
under the Endangered Species
Act but announced federal
land-use restrictions.
U.S. District Judge Em-
met G. Sullivan dismissed
the lawsuit in January. Sulli-
van didn’t rule on the merits
of the claims but said Otter
lacked standing because the
state didn’t prove it had been
injured.
Otter has long complained
that Idaho worked with feder-
al agencies to come up with a
sage grouse plan only to have
Idaho’s plan ignored.
The sage grouse is found
in 11 Western states.
Courtesy of James Hoff
A farmer responds to the Henry’s Creek Fire in Bonneville County, Idaho, late last summer. The farm-
ers and ranchers have formed a new rural fire protection association to better coordinate their efforts
with those of professional firefighters.
Bonneville County farmers,
ranchers form fire association
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
IDAHO FALLS — For as
long as Bob Hoff has farmed,
the 75-year-old has fought
wildfires in the foothills of
Bonneville County.
This summer, however, he
and more than 30 other area
farmers and ranchers will do it
as part of the state’s ninth rural
fire protective association. They
will receive training, protective
gear and radios to coordinate
their efforts with professional
firefighters.
The program has been of-
fered through the Idaho De-
partment of Public Lands since
2012, providing training and
resources to rural residents who
are often the first to respond
when wildfires are sparked.
“The range fires we feel are
best fought with a tractor and
a disc,” Hoff said. “We’ve felt
frustrated because we’ve had no
communication with other fire-
fighters up there over the years.”
The new association had
its first training, conducted by
Bureau of Land Management
officials, on Feb. 25. The farm-
er-firefighters say the training
has opened their eyes to the im-
portance of first evaluating a fire
for safety considerations, rather
than jumping in immediately.
They’re awaiting approval of
nonprofit status.
Hoff said fires surface al-
most every year in his rural
area. Last summer, however,
Bonneville County experi-
enced an especially devastating
arson-caused blaze. The Hen-
ry’s Creek Fire scorched nearly
60,000 acres, fueled by strong
winds and dry vegetation, and
local farmers were credited
with digging fire breaks that
kept the flames away from new
development.
Hoff’s son, Idaho Potato
Commissioner James Hoff,
said some sheriff’s deputies,
based on safety concerns, were
hesitant to allow farmers ac-
cess to the Henry’s Creek Fire.
Heading forward, police dis-
patchers will notify the farmers
when fires are reported and so-
licit their help.
“North and east of my place,
the foothills are loaded with
homes,” James Hoff said. “I’ve
been around those homes with
my tractor and disc to keep fire
from getting into them.”
14-1\#6
James Hoff said firefighting
is hard on his personal equip-
ment — he incurred $12,000 in
damage to a tractor fighting one
fire — and the association will
be eligible for grants to acquire
equipment specifically for fire
containment.
Hoff said the association
will cover the eastern two-thirds
of rural Bonneville County, as
well as a portion of the western
area, and possibly the northern
tip of Bingham County. Bon-
neville County Commissioner
Dave Radford, who farmers
say has been instrumental in
setting up the association, said
it should relieve some of the
burden on the sheriff, who is
tasked with heading rural fire
responses.
“The communication gap
we’ve had in the past can be
bridged with this effort,” Rad-
ford said.
Association members will
pay dues to cover their liability
insurance, but IDL will supply
them with training materials,
protective uniforms, hardhats,
radios and portable fire shelters
from a state fund, said Rick
Finis, with IDL’s Fire Manage-
ment Bureau.