As most every farmer knows, trade remains vital to US agriculture. Undersecretary of Agriculture Robert Bonnie, telling an audience the other day that his use of that word “vital” is probably an understatement because About 20% of all US agricultural production is exported to world markets. And that’s one reason the US Department of Agriculture puts out so many reports lots of reports on us ag exports sales and US imports as well. The USDA has just put out its monthly ag trade update report in it. We have the complete ag trade numbers for the first 11 months of 2023.

It’s taken a bit longer than we’d hoped to roll out a monumental, CALS-led sustainable agriculture program, funded by the largest grant in University of Idaho’s history. Yet it’s already clear that Innovative Agriculture and Marketing Partnership for Idaho (IAMP) will live up to the hype and will be well worth the wait. IAMP, formerly known as “Climate-Smart Commodities for Idaho,” will receive up to $55 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture over five years, building cropping systems that are more resistant to changing climates and paying more than half of the funding directly to Idaho agricultural producers. The program will incentivize the state’s producers — with a focus on barley, beef, chickpeas, hops, potatoes, sugar beets and wheat.

Total net farm income in Idaho dropped by an estimated $400 million in 2023, an 11 percent decline compared with 2022. While total farm revenue in the state last year came close to matching the record set in 2022, total farm and ranch expenses in Idaho hit another record in 2023. That included a huge increase in interest expenses paid by the state’s almost 25,000 farms and ranches. Net farm income – revenue minus costs – is the farmer or rancher’s bottom line. Idaho set a record for total net farm income in 2022, at $4.2 billion. Increased production expenses, coupled with slightly lower total revenue, resulted in an 11 percent decrease in total net farm income in the state in 2023.

Farmer leaders of U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) are meeting in Washington, DC, Jan. 23 to 26, 2024, for a joint board of directors meeting. Activities included a plenary policy session, separate meetings with members of Congress, and consideration of USW’s producer-funded operating budget for fiscal year 2024/25. At the policy session, USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agriculture Alexis Taylor expressed excitement about seven U.S. agricultural trade missions planned for 2024 including the first to Angola in which USW Vice Chairman Clarke Hamilton will participate.

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., intends to question federal officials on the future fate of four Lower Snake River hydroelectric dams in Washington state during a congressional hearing later this month. “The Columbia River System and the Lower Snake River dams are the beating heart of the Pacific Northwest, yet that hasn’t stopped the Biden administration from apparently colluding with special interest groups to lay the groundwork to remove them.

With the festive holiday season in the rearview and a continued lack of daily sunshine, January through March can certainly feel like the dreariest months of the year. But are some states more prone to this seasonal sadness than others? A new Forbes Health study determined which U.S. states are most likely to be affected by winter blues, analyzing factors such as the average amount of sunny days, the average amount of daylight hours and the prevalence of mental health struggles throughout the winter months.Idaho ranked in the top 10 for highest rates of anxiety (21.6%) and depression (16.7%) symptoms during the winter.

Corn and soybean acreage will shift across the U.S. in the spring of 2024, but perhaps not by as much as what market prices are currently forecasting...USDA published its 2024 winter wheat sowings report in early January, finding a 6% annual decline in winter wheat acres, bringing expected acreage down to 34.4 million acres – the 10th-smallest winter wheat acreage on record.