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.

As the average age for Idaho producers slowly rises – 56.6 years old in 2022, according to USDA – Milo is among the 9% of Idaho’s farmers and ranchers under age 35. “In the 30-mile radius around our farm, there are not a lot of young farmers,” he says. “There’s maybe three coming back to farm with dad, including me.” It’s no wonder, with commodity prices failing to offset rising costs of land and inputs.

Genetically modified (GM) crops grown in the U.S. include corn, soybean, sugarbeets, canola, cotton, alfalfa, papaya, apples, potatoes, summer squash and pink pineapple. Following a decision released by the USDA last August, wheat could be joining that lineup within the next decade.

In southeast Idaho, the hard white spring wheat (HWS) that reigns supreme is Dayn, a widely-grown variety released by Washington State University in 2018. However, a new variety known as UI Gold may soon be giving it a run for its money.

“I think there are plenty of workers who would love to come into the U.S. on a longer term to work in the animal industry,” says Hafliger. He adds, “We need to have a long-term program available. The dairy industry is so technical – with the knowledge required – you don’t want to train a guy and then lose him after three months … I would like to see us develop some kind of [work] visa for a set time – at a minimum, for five years.”

“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.

The first three quarters of 2024 saw over 300,000 agricultural workers enter the country through the H-2A program, which provides temporary visas for foreign workers to perform seasonal agricultural jobs. It is an important source of labor in the West, with California and Washington ranking third and fourth in the nation, respectively, for H-2A workers.

“It’s not a complete silver bullet, but nothing is,” says Jay Smith of the J Lazy S Angus Ranch of Carmen. He and his wife Chyenne are using virtual fencing to manage cattle grazing on their Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service (USFS) permits after the 130,000-acre Moose Fire scorched their USFS grazing allotment in 2022. “I think the proof’s in the pudding when I say we want to keep using it,” he says. “The cost and the work were worth it.”

“When we’re talking vaccines, the worst-case scenario is not vaccinating,” says Idaho County Extension Educator Meranda Small. “That means you’re not giving your animals the opportunity to be set up for success in a variety of scenarios.”

For some farms, innovation means introducing conservation practices ahead of the curve. For others, it may look like growing crops outside the “normal” local rotation. Elsewhere, it may mean introducing cutting-edge technology. At Uhlorn Family Farms of Ferdinand, all three are at play.