This year’s drought in Idaho is not unprecedented but it is one of the state’s driest years on record.

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee — Grain Craft announced on Tuesday plans to construct a grain elevator at the company’s Blackfoot, Idaho flour mill. The new elevator will receive local wheat and convey it directly into the mill. It is scheduled to be complete during fourth quarter of 2021.

In the past few weeks, Idaho’s agriculture industry has chalked up four significant wins.

ROCKFORD, Wash. (AP) — The wheat harvest on Marci Green’s farm doesn’t usually begin until late August, but a severe drought stunted this year’s crop and her crews finished harvesting last week because she didn’t want what had grown so far to shrivel and die in the heat.

Scoular Co. has announced a new program that seeks to promote food and feed barley varieties as economically viable rotation crops for Idaho farmers

Unlike last year, there will be no record set for average barley yields in Idaho in 2021.

Idaho’s total wheat production and quality are normally very consistent on an annual basis. Because of severe drought conditions and a lengthy heat wave, that could change this year, at least on the production side.

MOSCOW — With deep, fertile soils and consistent rainfall, Latah County produces an abundant supply of several crops, including soft white wheat, garbanzo beans, peas and lentils.

The Idaho Grain Producers Association and the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation are holding an informative meeting next week in Lewiston focusing on the importance of the Columbia Snake River System to Idaho agriculture.

JEROME — Scoular is hiring at its Jerome processing plant. The plant will be making Emerge, a barley-based protein source for aquaculture and pet food.

Wheat prices for farmers have flirted with $8 a bushel in recent days and are substantially higher than they were this time last year.

University of Idaho researchers are working to update their Idaho barley and wheat production guides, which are four decades old.

ABERDEEN — Idaho wheat industry leaders believe a new wheat variety called “UI Cookie” could have significant potential for a lot of the state’s grain farmers.

By SEAN ELLIS

Washington, D.C. – A few weeks ago, I released a comprehensive concept to resolve the salmon, energy and dam issues that have created tension in the Northwest for decades. It is meant to provide security for all stakeholders, end lawsuits and give Idaho’s wild salmon and steelhead a chance f…

Anheuser-Busch announced Feb. 3 that it will shift production of a signature beer, Stella Artois, from Europe to four of its U.S. breweries, which will produce the beverage for domestic consumption.

Idaho barley farmers set a record for average yield per acre in 2020.

POCATELLO — Idaho barley farmers set a record for average yield per acre in 2020.

Extremely favorable growing conditions resulted in Idaho wheat farmers setting a record for average yield per acre last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Vilsack, President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of agriculture, pledged Tuesday to focus on climate change initiatives and work to address racial inequities in agricultural assistance programs.

American Falls farmer Jim Tiede is usually happy if he can break even on wheat, and he’s grown accustomed to raising the crop at a loss just to give his fields a rest between potato years.

Google searches for the word “recipe” skyrocketed during the first quarter of 2020 and are still up by about 16% from 2019, explained University of Idaho Extension educator Joel Packham.

Government payments helped Idaho’s food producers reap record profits in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new University of Idaho report.

POCATELLO — Idaho solidified its spot as the nation’s No. 1 barley-producing state in 2020 despite early season estimates that total barley production in the Gem State would decrease this year.

BOISE — The Idaho Wheat Commission has opted to cautiously move forward with plans to build a new, $5.5 million building in downtown Boise.

ARBON VALLEY — Dale Tubbs paused to appreciate the splendor of the sun rising over the yellow quaking aspen trees and the contrasting dark-green junipers on a recent morning at his Bull Canyon Ranch.

There’s gold in Idaho’s wheat fields, and above average yields in the southeast Idaho wheat harvest for 2020 could be good news for the local economy.

The Idaho Barley Commission and Idaho Wheat Commission normally host about 10 trade delegations between them each year.

WOODWARD, Iowa — Usually this time of year, someone could get lost in the tightly packed sea of corn that surrounds farmer Rod Pierce’s house in central Iowa.

Arbon Valley dry-land farmer Hans Hayden was initially pessimistic about this season’s wheat crop, having sustained heavy losses both to winter kill of fall wheat and hail damage during a cold spring.

POCATELLO – It’s official: Scoular Co.’s new $13 million barley processing facility will be built in Jerome.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Farmers across a wide swath of Iowa are dealing with the heartbreaking aftermath of a rare wind storm that turned what was looking like a record corn crop into deep losses for many.

SODA SPRINGS — A farmer who raises dry-land grain in Caribou County said a Saturday morning fire destroyed his shop, as well as a truck filled with grain, farm equipment and new and vintage vehicles that were inside of it.

POCATELLO — The recent revisions that USDA made to its coronavirus farm relief program are expected to provide some relief to potato farmers who have been financially impacted by COVID-19.

University of Idaho Extension cereals pathologist Juliet Marshall was initially pessimistic about East Idaho’s grain crops, as many fields were set back by early season frost and an extremely wet spring.

New data suggests the coronavirus pandemic led Idaho farmers to plant spring wheat on tens of thousands of acres typically reserved for potatoes, barley and sugar beets.

POCATELLO – Scoular Co. has announced it will build a barley manufacturing facility that will initially process 1.9 million bushels of barley annually.

BOISE — The Idaho Wheat Commission’s new executive director, Casey Chumrau, knows she has big shoes to fill but leaders of the state’s wheat industry are confident she has the skills and experience to do that.