Ag Proud – Idaho’s Cassidy Woolsey caught up with David Hoekema, a hydrologist with the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR), to discuss this year's unusually dry spring and how it’s affecting the state’s water supply.

The greater sage grouse has become a poster child for a keystone species in decline across the West: a symbol of the sagebrush steppe being converted, degraded and fragmented. “When I was a kid, I remember seeing a lot more of them,” says rancher Richard Ward of Malta.

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We often like to use the easy button on so many things. In some instances, this works for a time, but what can the long-term results be and do we attempt to understand how nature interacts and responds to the practices we do in farming? Controlling weeds is one of those easy buttons that I feel we need to take a deeper look at and understand what the weeds are trying to tell us.

“As everyone knows the Treasure Valley is rapidly growing,” says Idaho Water Resource Board (IWRB) staff member Justin Ferguson. Based on a water demand survey completed in 2016 for the IWRB, the Treasure Valley is projected to increase in population to 1.57 million people by 2065, and with that increase comes an estimated need for an additional 81,000 acre-feet of water.

Federal budget cuts in 2025 are impacting Idaho agriculture through the loss of critical funding for research, conservation and support programs. Additionally, the USDA is facing budget cuts across various programs that support schools, food banks and local farmers, potentially creating uncertainty for agriculture operations. This could lead to decreased support for farmers and potentially impact food security.

On June 16, Gov. Brad Little and Idaho Water Resource Board (IWRB) Chairman Jeff Raybould visited American Falls Dam and the Highline Canal south of Buhl to highlight two major projects funded through the state’s Modernizing Water Infrastructure grant.

Imagine my shock, then, when last fall I discovered that we were due to deliver another pivot. I hadn’t even known we were expecting.