Farmers and Ranchers Feed the People
Valley County commissioners voted to create Agricultural Protection Areas in Valley County. If you are new to our area you may not realize why this is important.
Across the nation and in Idaho, agricultural property is being transformed into housing and other commercial uses and takes away the opportunity to provide food for people forever.
Recently, five members of the Valley County/Adams County Farm Bureau attended the Annual Idaho Farm Bureau Federation Conference in Boise.
As the newly elected president of Valley-Adams County Farm Bureau, I wanted to share what farming and ranching means to all of us.
Please understand that Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, and all the various county Farm Bureaus, such as Valley-Adams, and Farm Bureau Insurance Co. of Idaho are two different areas of Farm Bureau. IFBF and your county Farm Bureaus work to help promote healthy farming and ranching in our counties, while the insurance side takes care of insurance needs.
Historically, Valley County didn’t just graze cattle and grow a few crops of hay and grain. I grew up farming with my family and surrounding families in the Lake Fork area, raising seed potatoes, wheat, barley oats, clover seed, grass seed and even lettuce was tried at times.
In later years, as workers became harder to find to help with harvest and other duties, many of those crops were not grown any more. Yes, a few farmers and ranchers still grow some; however, in a much smaller amount.
One of Farm Bureau’s messages from the recent conference was for us as farmers and ranchers to tell our stories so folks who don’t know understand where the food comes from that they purchase to feed their family.
Our local Farm Bureau group works in different ways to help show where the food comes from. As the New Year comes, our Farm Bureau members will be doing educational presentations to the elementary students.
This year, our focus is on Cascade, Council and McCall. Last year we were at Donnelly and New Meadows. In these presentations, we discuss the world and how little of an area is used to feed people.
We also show how many items you use every day come from some part of an animal.
In March, watch for Farm Bureau to host a National Ag Day at a local store where we again provide information on where the food comes from.
We teamed up with local FFA students as they sold raffle tickets to win a side by side UTV that supports their scholarship funding.
Last fall, we were honored to provide hamburgers and hotdogs along with doing the grilling to feed the many volunteers for the Woodstock event.
Did you know that the log cut into firewood is an agricultural product? Just another item of products grown that helps in our daily lives.
As Christmas season and the New Year begin, I ask you to remember a farmer and a rancher as they started the process that created the foods your family will consume.
Want to learn more about how farmers and ranchers work in today’s world? Idaho Farm Bureau Federation has produced podcasts on a variety of subjects. Just search “Dirt Road Discussions” on your podcast app.
Thank You,
