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CapitalPress.com
Friday, March 4, 2022
Weber Family Farms: Generations of growing alfalfa seed
By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
For the Capital Press
PARMA, Idaho — Weber Fam-
ily Farms has been growing alfalfa
seed for several generations. Craig
Weber’s father and grandfather
started growing seed in the mid-
1960s, as did many other farms in
the region.
The Weber farm near Parma,
Idaho, also grows peppers and
wheat, but the main crop is still
alfalfa seed. There is always
demand for seed, since a lot of
alfalfa hay is produced around the
country, with many varieties.
“Some varieties work well in
mountainous areas like Idaho, and
some work best in different cli-
mates and elevations,” Craig said.
“When I was growing up,
all the farms in this valley grew
alfalfa seed. Today, there are only
four growers left. Alfalfa seed
crops take a lot of time and effort,”
he said.
“This is a non-GMO area, here
at Parma. It’s been designated that
way ever since GMO crops became
available. Farmers here decided to
create this GMO-free zone; we fig-
ured that if the whole world wants
GMO we could change over later,”
Craig said. “GMOs haven’t really
boomed; they’ve had a lot of bad
press. That’s been good for us and
our area.”
Alfalfa seed crops depend on
bees for pollination.
“Regular honey bees don’t like
to pollinate alfalfa” because of the
shape of the flower, he said. The
bee needs to “trip” the flower open.
“We need leafcutter bees, to
Courtesy of Craig Weber
Craig Weber and his family. From left are Garrett, Courtney, Evan, Maria, Craig, Samantha Ashby and
son-in-law Zach Ashby.
trip the flower, and it’s a challenge
keeping them going,” Craig said.
“If we didn’t have these bees, we
wouldn’t have a seed crop.”
Some of the pesticides tradi-
tionally used on crops to deter
insects that damage the plants are
harmful to bees as well.
“In the old days people used
chemicals that eradicated every-
thing — sometimes spraying
every few days to keep the bugs at
bay. Now we’ve learned this isn’t
healthy; the chemicals available
today are more specific regarding
the bugs they target,” Craig said.
The newer chemicals are geared
toward the way certain insects eat,
destroying their mouthpieces.
There are beneficial insects that
farmers don’t want to kill, such
as ladybugs (that prey on harmful
insects) and bees.
“Sprays today are gentler on
bees. Our population return of bees
for the next year is higher now,
though we also buy some Cana-
dian bees to make sure we have
enough,” he said.
Canada doesn’t have as many
bee diseases as Idaho, Washing-
ton and Oregon, and those bees are
able to reproduce at a higher rate.
“People today are trying to
raise healthy bees and keep every-
thing healthy, so we won’t need
the expense of buying Canadian
bees. If we can keep our own bees
healthy and reproducing, we are
better off,” he said.
The alfalfa seed is marketed to
several companies through con-
tracts, for specific varieties.
“We also raise common vari-
eties that we grow on our own to
sell. Some are traditional varieties
that the old ranchers and cowboys
in the Northwest prefer because
they do well and have stood the
test of time,” he explained.
When a new stand is planted, it
stays in two to three years, some-
times longer on their own varieties.
“It depends on how our rota-
tion is for our other crops. Some-
times it’s nice to leave the alfalfa
in a little longer to help the ground
rebuild. When we take out a stand,
all of that old crop gets chopped
up and goes back into the ground,”
said Craig.
This helps the soil fertility for
other crops in the rotation.
“We’ve also done some trading
with neighbors. We have traded
ground and grown alfalfa seed on
their farms while they’ve grown
sugar beets on our place,” he said.
Certain weeds can get started in
alfalfa, and when that ground is put
into sugar beets those weeds can
be cleaned up, he said.
This is a family operation. “My
brother Alan and his son Trent also
farm with me. My wife and I have
four children but our 17-year-old
son is the only one still at home.
I am not sure yet whether any of
them will be interested in farm-
ing; they are still figuring out
what they want to do. They are
involved in the farm, however,
and come out and help, but we are
letting them make that decision
on their own,” Craig said. “There
is room for them if they want to
come back.”
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