Idaho Farm Bureau to help CAFE lift off
The Idaho Farm Bureau Foundation will partner with the Idaho Dairymen’s Association and University of Idaho to create what it’s calling “the nation’s largest research dairy.”
The university’s proposed Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (CAFE) will conduct cutting-edge research in all aspects of the agriculture industry. According to a recent UI study, agriculture directly or indirectly accounts for about 16% of Idaho’s total gross domestic product and one in eight jobs in Idaho. About a third of the state’s total farm cash receipts come from dairy farmers.
The $45 million project will be anchored by a 2,000-cow dairy that will conduct a host of research related to the dairy industry. It will also include a food processing plant that will be located on the College of Southern Idaho campus in Twin Falls. An outreach and education center will be located on a six-acre parcel of land near the intersection of Interstate 84 and Highway 93 near Twin Falls.
The center will be funded through a combination of state and University of Idaho funds, as well as money from industry partners.
The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation announced it will contribute $100,000 to the CAFE. It will contribute $20,000 a year for five years, starting this August.
The State Board of Education voted to allow the university to buy land near Rupert. UI will pay $2.5 million to purchase a 540-acre parcel of land and the Idaho Dairymen’s Association will pay $2 million. The Whiteside family, which owns the land, will donate another 100 acres, bring the total acreage to 640 acres.
“This CAFE project is going to be an incredible center and the university’s vision for it is exciting,” said Idaho Farm Bureau Federation President Bryan Searle, a farmer from Shelley. “It’s a privilege for Idaho Farm Bureau to be involved with it.”
In a letter of support for the center that Searle sent U of I officials in December, he said, “Projected to be the largest integrated research facility focused on dairy and allied industry in the United States, CAFE will enhance a national and international reputation that will reflect the size, quality and importance of the industry it represents and strengthen Idaho’s position on the map as a center for agricultural and food innovation and technology.”
Michael Parrella, dean of U of I’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, who is leading the CAFE effort reiterated the university’s pledge that the center will benefit all of agriculture.
“Obviously there is a huge focus on dairy but all of agriculture will benefit from the research, outreach and education that is going to be done there,” he said.
UI said it is forming educational partnerships with Brigham Young University-Idaho and the College of Southern Idaho to provide opportunities for other students to learn at the facility. BYU-Idaho will also use the facility for student training and research.
