IDAHO WHEAT COMMISSION

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As farmers retire, lawmakers explore how to boost beginning producers

About 31% of Idaho's farmers are retirement age.

More than half of American farmers will reach retirement age in the next 10 years, but the steep price of entry to start a farm, along with rising input costs and volatile markets, make it tough for young and beginning farmers to take their places.  The current financial outlook for farmers is particularly challenging.
Farmers face rising costs for not only farmland, but also fertilizer, fuel, seeds and chemicals. Meanwhile, high crop prices that have buoyed farmers over the past year are expected to go down.
House lawmakers are looking for ways to mitigate some of these risks and support young and beginning farmers in the next farm bill, the sweeping legislation that will set programs and funding levels for farm and food support for the next five years.  
A third of America’s 3.4 million farmers are over 65, and nearly a million more are within a decade of that milestone retirement age, according to the most recent agricultural census from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The census was taken in 2017 and published in 2019.
The census said nearly 14,000 of Idaho’s farmers were over 65. That was 31% of the farmers in the state as of 2017.

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April 22, 2025
Probing our Country’s Soil Health
A reminder that there is a new nation-wide project called “Probing Our Country’s Soil Health”. It is being funded by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). A major goal of the project is to build a national soil health database and new and improved tools for benchmarking and interpreting soil health metrics. The anonymous data will be used to expand a new and exciting tool called the Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation (or SHAPE). This tool helps provide better references for farmers seeking to understand and build soil health. Idaho growers are encouraged to join this important initiative to help shape the future of soil health practices across the nation. More information can be found here!
April 22, 2025
FDA’s New Definitions of ‘Healthy’ Foods Takes Effect Soon - Here’s What you Need to Know
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U.S. Considers Adjusting Port Fee Plan for Chinese Vessels After Pushback
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USDA Scientist Asks Bigger Weed Questions
USDA research weed scientist Olivia Landau is asking big questions about the future of weed management in wheat farming. As part of the Pacific Northwest Herbicide Resistance Initiative, Landau focuses on identifying herbicide-resistant weed populations and exploring innovative approaches to manage them. As growers face increasing herbicide resistance, Landau encourages them to reach out and share field observations that might inform her research. She’s committed to making complex scientific information clear and accessible, helping the region’s farmers find sustainable, forward-looking solutions to weed management.
April 22, 2025
USDA Terminates University of Idaho Grant to Help Farmers
The University of Idaho’s largest grant, nearly $59 million from the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) program, was terminated due to new USDA criteria requiring 65% of funds go directly to producers. The original proposal had over 50% allocated for producer payments, with the remainder for technical and marketing support. The university had already begun enrolling producers and offering support to help them adopt sustainable practices. The USDA is relaunching the program as the Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) Initiative, and U of I plans to revise and resubmit its proposal.