The 2025-30 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) issued by the Trump administration in January 2026 are perhaps the most talked-about DGA ever. In some ways, they are also the most simplified, containing just 10 pages of official guidance under the catchphrase “eat real food.”

Across the Pacific Northwest, sugarbeet growers are facing one of the most challenging market environments in decades. Domestic sugar prices have fallen sharply, dropping more than 33% over the past two years. For many sugarbeet growers, the 2025 crop resulted in losses exceeding $500 per acre. If current conditions continue, the economic outlook for the sugarbeet industry is grim.

As an individual farm that relies largely on the sugarbeet crop, Garner recognizes the need to meet current and future challenges with efficiency, water management and “loosening the reins” to involve the younger generation.

Idaho has a new top ag commodity: beef cattle. Livestock sector gains led Idaho farmgate cash receipts to a second consecutive all-time high in 2025. Net farm income is forecast to see a small year-over-year increase, with livestock sector gains outweighing losses in the crop sector.

Leaders from some of Idaho’s agricultural sectors share their expectations and priorities for the 2026 legislative session.

“The ag community is all suffering. We all know this,” says Brandon Vining, president of ProGro Agronomy in St. Anthony. Agronomic outcomes differed by region, but low commodity prices and high input costs have most producers (outside of the beef industry) tightening their belts and hoping for better times.

As the Make America Healthy Again Commission (MAHA) makes headlines, Idaho producers may wonder where changing policies and recommendations leave them. One article of particular interest is the disavowal of “ultra-processed foods.”

“Overall, it was an average to average-plus year,” says Terry Helms of Simplot Grower Solutions in Oakley. Helms has been an agronomist in south central Idaho since 1985 and deals with a range of crops including potatoes, sugarbeets, corn, dry beans and small grains.