Treasure Valley Ag Tour Set For Wednesday

Ag education and outreach will take center stage in the Treasure Valley Wednesday, as the Caldwell/Nampa Chambers Agri Business Committee will host an “Elected Officials and Media” Ag tour. 

Samantha Parrott, Executive Director of the Snake River Sugarbeet Growers Association says at its core, Wednesday’s tour is about sharing the impact farming has on the region and the state as a whole.  She noted they host these tours every couple of years.

“And it does target those local elected officials, so city council, county commissioners, legislators, and then of course the media as well. And we do a one-day tour and get them out in the field and let them see what agriculture is really about.”

Parrott said tours like this are growing in importance as more and more people are moving to Idaho, and don’t know or understand the importance of agriculture.  So, what will it take for Parrott to consider Wednesday’s tour a success?

“Before we even start the planning, we talk about what agricultural issues are out there that we want to highlight, that we think are important right now," Parrott said.  "So some issues that we want to focus on are Ag land preservation, we want to talk about labor, and then water. Those are kind of our three main issues that we want to educate folks on. And so for us, I think just having these people come listen, we'll be gauging based on what questions they're asked, how engaged they are in the process. We do a follow-up survey as well. But, you know, I think that's going to be the level of success is just really educating them about these issues. And, you know, Ag is a really complex industry. Our issues aren't just cut and dry.”

Wednesday’s runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  It will start and wrap up on the College of Western Idaho campus in Nampa.

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