Thursday January 29, 2009
01-29-2009 DELEGATION APPLAUDS SELECTION OF DOE-IDAHO INTERIM MANAGER
Washington, DC – Idaho’s Congressional Delegation applauded today’s announcement that Dennis Miotla has been named interm manager...(More)
01-28-2009 BE OUTSIDE!
“Eventually, most of us figure out that it’s people, not nature, who create morality, values, ethics—and even the idea that nature...(More)
01-27-2009 CRAPO: PRESIDENT MAKES HIS CASE, BUT IT STILL COSTS TOO MUCH
Washington, DC – Idaho Senator Mike Crapo was among a group of Republican Senators meeting with President Barack Obama today on Capitol Hill...(More)
Owyhee Initiative
Links and information on the Owyhee Initiative.
111th Congress Preview
Mike outlines some of his legislative priorities for the 111th Congress.
Visiting DC?
Find out about popular government buildings and monuments you can visit on your trip.
ESRA
Check out Senator Crapo's Endangered Species Recovery Act, which provides incentives to private property owners for conservation.
Audio
Idaho Agriculture Fast Facts
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See also: Agriculture has been the backbone of Idaho's economy for many years, dating back to before the area became a state. Much of the state's population is located along the banks of rivers, which provides water for crop irrigation. Idaho's growing season is about 200 days around the city of Lewiston to very brief at high altitudes. With no hurricanes and infrequent, rare tornadoes, crop damage due to weather is miminal, limited to damage from hail damage and wind storm. Idaho's greatest threats to crops remains drought and insects.
Q: Which county has the highest annual rainfall in Idaho?
A: With an average of 33.5 inches each year,
Bonner county has more rainfall than any other county. That much rainfall is
over 24 inches more than Bingham County, which only gets around
9.43 inches of rain in an average year.
Q: Which county typically undergoes the earliest fall freeze?
A: While freeze comes to most counties sometime in September, in an average year, Camas County sees its first freeze as early as August.
Q: Which county is home to the greatest number of farms?
A: According to 1997 statistics, Canyon County has the largest number of farms, counting just shy of 2,000. This is followed closely by Twin Falls County, with 1,439; and then by Ada County, with 1,221 farms.
Q: How much land in Idaho is devoted to farming?
A: Of Idaho’s 82,747 square miles of land, 11,900,000 acres, or 22%, is farmland.
Q: Idaho provides at least half of the nation’s production of which two crops?
A: Idaho provides 92% of the nation’s Austrian Winter Peas and about 50% of the nation’s Wrinkled Seed Peas. Surprisingly, although Idaho is the largest producer of potatoes, it only provides the country with 30% of the total national supply.
Q: How many bushels of barley are produced in Idaho each year?
A: In an average year, Idaho produces 55,480 bushels of barley, making us the second largest producer of the crop in the country, after North Dakota.
Q: Barley Hops is harvested in which states?
A: Barley hops, a climatically sensitive crop, is harvested only in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (though experimentally, it is grown in institutions in Massachusetts, as well.)
Q: When is wheat generally planted?
A: Wheat is planted during two different periods of the year: winter wheat is planted from mid-September to early November, and spring wheat is planted from late March to late May.
Q. What single variety of wheat is most often planted in Idaho?
A. Spanning an average of 176,500 acres, Westbred 936 wheat is the most frequently planted wheat in the state.
Q. The second most frequently planted wheat in Idaho is primarily found in which region of the state?
A. Madsen, the second more frequently planted variety of wheat in the state at 172,300 acres, can be found almost exclusively (99%) in the northern part of the state.
Q: How many acres of Idaho’s farmland is devoted to the production of wheat?
A: An average of 1,370,000 acres of wheat is planted each year in Idaho. Of that, 590,000 acres are planted in east Idaho, 490,000 in north Idaho, 252,000 in southcentral Idaho, and 100,000 acres planted in southwest Idaho.
Q: How does Idaho’s annual sugarbeet production compare with that of other states?
A: Idaho is the second leading producer of sugarbeets in the nation, boasting an annual yield of 5,596,000 tons!
Q: In which area of the state are peppermint and spearmint primarily grown?
A: Peppermint and spearmint are grown primarily in southwest Idaho.
Q: In 1924, Idaho boasted a milk production level of 709 million lbs. Since then, how much has milk production increased?
A: Since 1924, Idaho’s milk production has increased by 6,514 million lbs, culminating in 2000 with a whopping 7,223 million lbs of milk!
Q: In what year has Idaho claimed the largest number of cattle?
A: In 1975, Idaho was home to 2,150,000 head of cattle-more than in any other year. That was 250% greater than Idaho’s human population of the same year!
Q: Idaho provides the greatest number of what type of fish for consumption, nationally?
A: With 44,500 lbs, Idaho supplies the nation with 75% of its Foodsize Trout.
Q: How does Idaho compare to other states in international trade?
A: During Fiscal Year 2000, Idaho exported more dairy and dairy products than almost 90% of other U.S. states. Idaho was the ninth largest wheat and wheat product exporter in the nation, and, netting 303.3 million dollars, was the third largest exporter of vegetables and preparations in the country.
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