There are voices within Idaho suggesting that hydroelectric generating plants on irrigation canal systems are focused more on generating power (and selling it) than they are on serving the irrigation needs of Idaho agriculture.

Technology can be a farmer’s friend. For example, a device about the size of a pound or two of butter is buried in the field and is helping farmers improve crop quality, boost yields and reduce environmental impacts through data-driven insights from soil to storage.

Idaho is suffering one of the state’s most extreme droughts since the 1920s, depleting the reservoirs, forcing producers to shut irrigation systems off early and households to conserve water usage – and forecasters predict the dry spell is likely to continue.