GEM Idaho Farm Bureau STATE ProducerMarch 2020 • Volume 24 Issue 2 Tapping the potential of young farmers and ranchers Idaho ag Cattle ranchers Chicken Dinner caucus forms, 8 fight hunger, 12 a winner, 37 March 2020 | 1 By Zippy Duvall The Zipline President American Farm Bureau Federation The three-legged stool of good rulemaking ules are more likely to be followed if they The new, clearer definition of “waters of the are clear and well understood. United States” for purposes of federal regulatory R Rules are more likely to be supported if jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act will end the people who must follow them agree they are decades of confusion and litigation over which needed and they are lawful. parts of a farmer’s or rancher’s land require fed- And rules are more likely to achieve their eral permission to farm. purpose if they meet the prior criteria: people Let’s take a look at the first leg of the stool: support them and can follow them. clear and easy to understand. The new rule clear- That three-legged stool of good rulemaking is ly establishes four categories of water or land that represented by the new Navigable Waters Protection are regulated at the federal level. Equally import- Rule issued Jan. 23 by the Environmental Protec- ant, it clarifies the categories that are not tion Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. See DUVALL, page 6 By Bryan Searle The President’s Desk President Idaho Farm Bureau Federation YF&R program helps develop the next generation of farmers rom Jan. 30 to Feb. 1, about 180 young environment. They will also be leaders in their lo- agricultural producers cal schools and communities and they are brilliant F came to Boise to attend Idaho Farm and full of ideas, energy and enthusiasm. Bureau Federation’s annual Young Farmers and The YF&R program is designed to help provide Ranchers Leadership Conference. these amazing young farmers and ranchers the These young producers from 18 to 35 years of skills and resources they will need to thrive in the age came from across the state and they repre- future and become the next leaders of the state’s sented most of the farm commodities produced in most important industry. Idaho. In order for Farm Bureau to remain strong, They represent the future of agriculture and relevant and viable, we have to continue to train they will also be the future leaders within their that next generation. city, county and all of Idaho in a rapidly changing See SEARLE, page 7 By Rick Keller Inside Farm Bureau CEO Idaho Farm Bureau Federation Farmers, ranchers depend on broadband roadband is no longer a luxury, it’s just as they do highways, railways and wa- a necessity. While most Americans terways to ship food, fuel and fiber across the “Btake broadband for granted, data country and around the world. Many of the latest compiled by the Federal Communications Com- yield-maximizing farming techniques require mission show that 26.4 percent of rural Ameri- broadband connects for data collection and anal- cans lack access to broadband compared to only ysis performed both on the farm and in remote 1 percent of urban Americans,” American Farm data centers. Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall re- America’s farmers and ranchers embrace tech- cently wrote to a U.S. House of Representatives nology that allows their farming businesses to be subcommittee hearing on improving national more efficient, economical and environmentally broadband maps. friendly. Farmers and ranchers depend on broadband See KELLER, page 6 2 | Idaho Farm Bureau Producer Idaho Farm Bureau Volume 24, Issue 2 IFBF Officers President ...................................................Bryan Searle, Shelley Vice President .................................Richard Durrant, Meridian Executive Vice President .......................................... Rick Keller Assist Executive Vice President ........................... Justin Patten BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dan Garner ...................................................................... Clifton Austin Tubbs ..................................................................... Malad Fred Burmester .............................................................. Downey Scott Steele ............................................................... Idaho Falls Stephanie Mickelsen ................................................ Idaho Falls Travis McAffee .................................................................. Howe Gerald Marchant ........................................................... Oakley Rick Pearson .............................................................Hagerman Rick Brune ..................................................................... Hazelton Cody Chandler ............................................................... Weiser Galen Lee .......................................................... New Plymouth Matt Dorsey ................................................................. Caldwell Marjorie French...........................................................Princeton Tom Daniel ............................................................Bonners Ferry Tom Mosman ............................................................Craigmont Judy Woody ..........................................................................Filer Jason Fellows ..................................................................Weston STAFF Director of Admin. Services ......................................Cara Dyer Member Services Assistant .................................Peggy Moore Member Benefit Assistant ..................................... Dixie Ashton Dir. of Commodities and Marketing ..........................Zak Miller Photo by Sean Ellis Dist. I Regional Manager ............................................Ott Clark Members of Idaho Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Dist. II Regional Manager .................................. Tyrel Bingham Dist. III Regional Manager ......................................Zack Lanier Ranchers program chat during a break in the group’s annual leadership Dist. IV Regional Manager .....................................Brody Miller conference, in Boise Jan. 31. Dist. V Regional Manager ..................................Bob Smathers Dir. of Governmental Affairs ..............................Russ Hendricks Boise Office Manager ........................................Kristy Lindauer Energy/Natural Resources ................................Braden Jensen Governmental Affairs Representative ............... Chyla Wilson Director of Information ..........................................Joel Benson YF&R program Publications Editor/Media Contact .......................... Sean Ellis Video Services Manager ........................................ Steve Ritter Broadcast Services Manager .............................Jake Putnam Business Systems Administrator ............................. Tyler Moore Videographer ................................................Michaela Andrus helping develop Printed by: Adams Publishing Group, Pocatello, ID GEM STATE PRODUCER USPS #015-024, is published monthly except February, May, August and November by the IDAHO FARM BUREAU FEDERATION, future leaders 275 Tierra Vista Drive, Pocatello, ID 83201. By Sean Ellis POSTMASTER send changes of address to: Idaho Farm Bureau Federation GEM STATE PRODUCER P.O. Box 4848, Pocatello, ID 83205-4848. Periodicals postage paid at Pocatello, Idaho, BOISE – Idaho Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and and additional mailing offices. Ranchers program has competitions that allow producers to com- Subscription rate: $6.00 per year included pete for some big awards, like four-wheelers and trips to American in Farm Bureau dues. Farm Bureau Federation’s annual meeting. MAGAZINE CONTACTS: Idaho Farm Bureau Federation But YF&R members say it’s the networking opportunities that are EDITOR (208) 239-4292 • ADS (208) 239-4279 the biggest benefit of the program, which is open to any farmer or E-MAIL: [email protected] rancher in Idaho between the ages of 18 and 35. web: www.idahofb.org During the annual IFBF Young Farmers and Ranchers Leadership Photo by Sean Ellis Conference in Boise Jan. 30-Feb. 1 – the conference was attended ON THE COVER: Members of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federa- by 180 farmers and ranchers – the benefits of networking with other tion Young Farmers and Ranchers program are shown on the emerging producers was a major topic of discussion. steps of the Idaho Capitol building Jan. 30. See this page for a story on the program. March 2020 | 3 Photo by Jake Putnam Idaho producers participate in a panel discussion during the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmers and Ranchers annual leader- ship conference, which was held in Boise Jan. 30-Feb. 1. It’s nice to rub shoulders and become you’re not the only one.” that other people are going through the friends with other young farmers but Paige Nelson, who operates a cow- same challenged and struggles we are as the biggest benefit in networking with calf operation with her husband in beginning farmers.” them is being able to tap their brains for Rigby, offered a practical example of While networking is a major benefit answers and vice versa, said Mitchel how networking helped her business. of the program, the true goal is to help Searle, a Burley farmer. “We needed hay (last) year and I produce the industry’s future leaders and “I find myself calling those indi- procrastinated buying that hay until assist them grow personally and profes- viduals saying, hey, can you tell me September,” she said.