Alfalfa seed demand nationally has been declining gradually for the past 15 years, impacted largely by the dairy industry which moved to alternative feed sources (in part) as alfalfa prices climbed and freight rates rose.

“We complemented each other well – him with a head for business, finance and management, and me on the production side. Besides, it was a good deal for him,” Kearl laughs, “because he lost half of his debt – to me.”

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.

“What’s for dinner?” is probably the most common phrase uttered in my home.

"Currently farmers are tasked with finding a home for used drip tape; sometimes it gets piled up, sometimes it goes to the landfill. Better equipment is being used now that can help get the mud out of the tape, but we still need to find appropriate avenues to utilize the used tape."

“I think they took away with them an understanding of how much we value every drop of water. Runoff risk is a major concern of the EPA and the ability of Idaho producers to utilize every drop of water via ponds, irrigation systems [drip irrigation], tailwater collection and recovery systems, or other methods, seemed to fascinate the EPA representatives.”

The latest ag interest to discover Idaho is in lettuce production.

Idaho again placed No. 1 in barley production in the U.S., at 60.48 million bushels, a 1% increase over 2022 production.