Fighting for Idaho’s fields: how research and community voices are protecting farmland

Idaho is booming - and its farmland is paying the price. Over the past two decades, the Treasure Valley has lost 100,000 acres of agricultural land to urban sprawl, threatening the food systems, ecosystems and farming heritage that define the region.

An interdisciplinary Boise State research team, led by Jodi Brandt, professor in the Human Environment Systems program and the School of the Environment, is joining forces with farmers and other community members to safeguard Idaho farmland and enhance community resilience. The team is using a revolutionary approach to amplify the voices of Idaho farmers and provide communities and policymakers with current research to navigate the threats to one of Idaho's most valuable resources.

Advancing the science of farmland protection

For over a decade, Boise State has been conducting research on farmland threats and preservation with funding from Idaho EPSCoR MILES Project and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Brandt is joined by other School of Environment and School of Public Service faculty leaders including Rebecca Som Castellano, Vicken Hillis, and Jen Schneider. Together, they advise and collaborate with visiting lecturer Sarah Halperin and doctoral students Gwénaëlle d'Aumale and Carolyn Koehn.

The team recently launched FARMPrES (Farmland Protection for Ecosystem Services), a website dedicated to sharing relevant research and proactive approaches to protecting farmland not just in Idaho, but across America.

"We designed the website so that any person interested in these issues - members of the general public, decision-makers and scientists - can learn more about how Idaho's farmlands are changing, what the impacts are for people, wildlife and other ecosystem services, and what types of solutions society could implement to address the issue," Brandt said.

The team's research and community involvement efforts have taken root. David Anderson, Idaho Senior Program Manager for American Farmland Trust praised the university's long history of dedication to these issues.

"Boise State researchers have helped Idaho communities better understand the economic, environmental, and cultural value of agricultural land," Anderson said. "They have advanced the science of farmland protection and provided practical tools and insights that are shaping real-world conservation, planning, and agricultural viability efforts across our state."

Threats to agriculture

Since 2020, one of the greatest challenges to protecting pastoral America is the acceleration of "the urban exodus." The COVID-19 pandemic pushed many Americans to seek housing and lifestyles outside of densely populated areas. Unfortunately, the same elements that enrich agricultural landscapes - flat terrain, access to water and drainage - are also highly sought by developers. The best farmland is generally at much higher risk for conversion to non-agricultural development.

Another threat is the lack of financial incentive for Idaho farmers to continue farming. Contemporary farmers, the majority over retirement age, face additional burdens from market volatility, industrial restructuring, erratic weather patterns and more. Simply put, there are fewer reasons to hold out against lucrative offers by developers.

Mapping the past to preserve the future

Carolyn Koehn, a graduate student in the Ecology, Evolution and Behavior doctoral program, joined the project in 2022. She specializes in spatial sciences and uses geographic information systems and data to analyze the effects of Idaho's urban development as well as the ecosystem services farmlands provide.

By identifying counties with comparable geographic and developmental characteristics, she identifies patterns, providing valuable insights on what makes strategies successful in certain communities.

"I see our research as providing tools for communities to create the futures they want to see," Koehn said. "We can inform people about farmland protection adaptations and strategies that may work for them based on what has worked in similar places."

Amplifying community voices to understand rural resistance

Gwénaëlle d'Aumale, also a student in the doctoral program, supports the social science component of the project by conveying the human stories behind the statistics. Advised by Rebecca Som Castellano, professor of sociology, d'Aumale collects data that explores the dynamics of policymaking on agriculture by engaging farmers and other stakeholders to demonstrate the risks of agricultural loss to Idaho communities.

"I interview farmers and ranchers in the Treasure, Magic and Teton Valleys to ask them, 'How are they adapting?'" d'Aumale said. "And that chapter gets me inside of farmhouses, at their kitchen tables, walking their fields, and having very long, intimate conversations with people. These are some of the more rewarding interviews that I get to conduct."

Her interviews and photos are essential for the team's upcoming PhotoVoice project: a digital storytelling format that combines community participatory research with photography to show the human stories behind the statistics. Collaborating with Vicken Hillis, associate professor in Human-Environment Systems, this initiative has further strengthened relationships between Boise State and Idaho's agricultural communities. The FARMPrES PhotoVoice project will go live on the website this fall, amplifying community voices alongside research to inform public understanding of rural resilience.

"We've got people of all value systems partnering to protect farmland because most of us understand it is essential we do so," d'Aumale said.

Looking ahead: integrating research for Idaho's future

Brandt and the team are excited by the integrated nature of their PhotoVoice project and hope others take these diverse perspectives of knowledge and use them to create plans to protect their communities and safeguard agricultural benefits.

"The exciting thing about Gwenaelle and Carolyn's research is that their integration is able to produce knowledge that is greater than the sum of its parts," Brandt said. "Students are the leaders of tomorrow, and by having them involved and engaged in issues facing every Idahoan, we have a chance to shape Idaho's future."

This work is supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, project award no. 09786, 2021, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

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