Gov. Little declares Decade of Ag in Idaho

Boise—“And therefore being resolved the Governor of the State of Idaho, hereby declares 2020-2030 a Decade of Agriculture. I urge all Idaho citizens to join Idaho in this special observance,” said Idaho Governor Brad Little.

And with that declaration and a signature, Idaho Governor Brad Little declares 2020-2030 the decade of Agriculture in Idaho. “We want to be innovators,” Little told a crowd of Farmers and Ranchers that gathered for the even at Boise Centre on the Grove. “It's going to be something new that will create better water, pure air, wildlife habitat, that's the mantra of agriculture in Idaho.”

Idaho is the first of many states that’s proclaimed this Decade of Agriculture. Says Erin Fitzgerald of the US Farmers and Ranchers Action.

“Idaho is truly leading and being part of this national movement,” said Fitzgerald. “I want to talk about what a Decade of Agriculture really means. “This is the greatest challenge of a generation. We will have to be able to provide food, fiber, and renewable energy harvested on our land over the next 30 years and we need to feed and nourish the coming generation. We have heard this before, but this truly is a monumental challenge.”

Fitzgerald says US Farmers will need to grow as much food as we have since the dawn of mankind all 8-thousand years to feed the world in the coming decades.

“This unprecedented scale requires a level of innovation and commitment not unlike going into space for the first time or traversing the ocean. When you think about the innovation of the future, we can imagine the technology leaps in healthcare but with agriculture, it's something else. We will have to innovate with mother nature and each harvest season we must get that much incrementally better. It is a chance to get it right,” said Fitzgerald.

DairyWest CEO Karianne Fallow says Idaho Farmers are up for the challenge.

“And here’s a great example. Consumers around the world are continually looking to us for a solution. It's one of the biggest problems facing our world. We really are posed to doing great things. To build our ag community all comes from the demand of our consumers,” said Fallow.

That demand from consumers is projected to double and triple every few years…and this Decade of Agriculture could bring an unprecedented wave of innovation to meet demand.