This Land of Ag Diversification
I spent this weekend and Monday traveling to Boise from Yakima and back again. On the trip down to Boise, I drove through the irrigation section of the Columbia Basin. This area grows a wide variety of crops such as onions, potatoes, wheat, corn, peas, beans, hay and lots of vegetable seed crops. After that, I drove through Southeastern Oregon with its range land for cattle.
As I was driving into Idado, I noticed sugar beets, a lot of dairy, corn, wheat, and other related corps. I spent some of my time on Monday driving around the Treasure Valley of western Idaho. There is quite a bit of fruit trees and vineyards in this area along with the row crops.
On Monday, I drove north through the Payette River and Salmon River valley. If you have never made this trip, you must go on it. This is some of the best scenery in the US. I met with a farmer near Lewiston that grows twelve different crops. From Lewiston, I drove home through the Palouse Country and again back through the Columbia Basin.
After putting on 1,100 miles, I can tell you that just the Northwest part of the country grows a bountiful range of crops and I am proud to be part of American Agriculture.
Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.
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