Suburban sprawl Strategy

Idaho is in a real fix. For whatever reason, people from Seattle Portland LA are stampeding into our state in unprecedented numbers. So, where did they go? Farmland is being sold, chopped up into residential developments and that means the heart of Idaho's economy, farming and ranching, is being reduced. The agricultural community is seeking solutions.

Besides encouraging home development on less productive land, they’re also looking at ideas from other states like agricultural preserves with lower property tax rates based on generated income and not market value, Tristen Winegar, Washington County Farm Bureau President says their hoping to take the best of what other states have done and find a solution that fits Idaho.

“Lots of other states have done things, namely California with the Williamson Act. That’s the tax incentives to do it. There are states that reward people for keeping it in Ag,” said Winegar. “There’s lots of other possibilities. The tax incentive thing is the one that we’re leaning towards, but there also has to be a way to fund it as well.”

We were approached by multiple legislators, and they told us that we are looking for a solution and this year we are really, seriously going to talk about it. And what happened was they knew that Farm Bureau would want to be on the forefront of it, and they also know the pull and the influence that we can have and so they wanted us to lead. And to come up with the ideas and come up with the solution because they know that Farm Bureau comes up with good solutions” said Winegar.

“The other very exciting thing that they told us is there is support from both side of the aisle on this, and that’s going to make all the difference in the world.”

“The word comes to me of having a coalition,” said Searles. “A coalition is an opportunity to bring everybody around the table. This involves our cities, this involves our counties, county commissioners and our mayors and city councils. This involves our state elected officials and up the ladder. It involves all the ag organizations, every single one of them are important.