Agriculture in Lincoln County

Agriculture and farm management

The UI Extension, Lincoln County office provides a wide range of technical resources for producers, as well as assistance with soil testing and interpretation, cover crops, compost, weed identification and control options, nitrate and forage analysis plus interpretation, grazing, insects, diseases, pesticide applicator training and helping producers find solutions for their problems. Contact the UI Extension, Lincoln County office at lincoln@uidaho.edu or 208-852-1097 for information on current classes and programs.

Extended grazing

For livestock producers, we focus on extending the grazing season, unconventional forages for meeting animal nutritional and energy requirements when cool season grasses are not growing, rotational grazing and pasture fertility.

Water management

One of the major issues facing Lincoln County producers is water availability. Lincoln County is irrigated partially by water from the Magic Reservoir and the American Falls Reservoir. Water from the Magic system is highly variable, which makes planning difficult. On either system, producers must continue to become better water managers and upgrade to more efficient delivery systems. Rulings on water right issues will continue to play a key role in available water, especially for ground water pumpers.

Unconventional forages

Along with water management, we also focus on unconventional forages, soil moisture monitoring, GPS mapping and water conservation measures. Previous work with producers and irrigation companies has resulted in larger economic returns and extended irrigation days for producers.

Nutrient management

UI Extension can assist with nutrient management, mainly soil sampling, understanding soil and compost analysis, fertilizer recommendations, utilization of compost and manure in cropping systems, unconventional forages that use less nutrients, cover crops and green manures.

Compost

The large dairy industry in the Magic Valley provides an opportunity to produce dairy compost that can be utilized in cropping systems to improve soil fertility and organic matter content. We have conducted research with producers using dairy compost in irrigated and dryland situations.

Cover crops

We are working with producers on their farms to determine which species will survive the winter, perform well under our growing conditions, finding seeding rates and mixes that work and determining nitrogen contributions.