Congratulations to Mark, Class 11, and Wendy Pratt, Class 35, whose daughter Anna Pratt was recently hired by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture to lead a new program, Farm Forward. The program was initiated by Director Celia Gould early in 2020. Anna is located in Twin Falls and is planning to be married later this summer to Cole Lickely, son of Bill, Class 25, and Laurie Lickley, Affiliate Member. The program is aimed at helping Idahoans enter or remain in agriculture.
 
Congratulations to Nic Wittman, Class 39, who was promoted to the position of Facility Procurement Manager at the Paul, Idaho facility of Amalgamated Sugar on 04/01/2020.  Nic has been with Amalgamated for 14 years and has held several positions including Facility Material Manager, IT Business Analyst and Crop Consultant.  Nic was elected a member of the LIA Board of Trustees on July 1, 2020.
 
Congratulations to Jeffrey Pettingill, Class 19, who was recently hired as the Weed Superintendent in Baker County, OR. Jeffrey and his family moved to Baker City earlier in the summer to begin his new job. Jeffrey was previously the Weed Superintendent of Bonneville County for a number of years.
 
Rich Garber, Class 2, has recently announced his retirement as the lobbyist for the Idaho Grain Growers Association. Rich has been serving in government affairs for a number of organizations since the early 1990's when he left his farming career in Nampa and joined Rick Waitley at AMG.
 
Branden Schiess, Class 40, is retiring from Bayer Crop Science to build houses full time since the housing market is very strong in Idaho. Eventually he would like to retire and run his dad's farm.
 
Daniel Bertram, Class 30, has had an interesting summer. In early July, Daniel's wife, Amy, experienced a neurological event that caused her to hit her head, giving her a concussion and a head wound. Our thoughts and prayers are with Amy as she continues to recover. This summer, their son, Bridger, graduated from the University of Montana Western, with a BS in Quantitative Ecology and minor in Statistics. Bridger graduated Magna Cum Laude. Daniel continues his work as Project Coordinator for the Governor's Office of Species Conservation.
 
Thoughts and prayers are also with Jonathan Fielding, brother of Devin Fielding, Class 40, who was seriously injured in a rollover accident on I-15 north of Pocatello the weekend of July 25. Jonathan was ejected from his pickup which resulted in several broken bones and severe head trauma. Jon is married and works for the Idaho National Laboratory as a Planner.
 
What about LIA Class 41? At this time, we are still taking applications for Class 41. We have been in contact with our various session locations as to their operations and protocols for hosting the class. It is too early to determine what protocols might be in place at the time of the class. The Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet on August 6 and will be addressing a number of issues related to operations of Class 41 at that time. Applications for the class should be submitted anytime between now and August 20. Publically, we announced the deadline for applications is August 1 but we do receive applications during the first part of August.
 
If you have not been tracking the LIA Facebook page you have been missing out on some great opportunities of where to buy local produce from LIA Alumni. If you or your farming operation is involved in marketing summer produce and products we invite you to send us a message so we can post it to the page and encourage our members to support your efforts.
 
Two important reminders:

• Submitting your update information for the LIA Directory to Gloria, ([email protected]) ASAP to be included in the 2020-2021 printing
• Annual or Lifetime Dues are payable now for 2020-2021

 
Below you will find a news release from the Idaho State Department of Agriculture about the unsolicited seed packages coming from China.
 
Have a safe, healthy and cool summer as we move into the month of August.

We look forward to having you join us for the LIA Alumni LINK (Leadership, Information, Network and Knowledge) on Thursday, July 30 at 9:00 AM (MT).
 
The following is the lineup of speakers and topics we will be discussing:
 
9:00 - 9:20                  Cameron Mulroney, Executive Vice President
                                    Idaho Cattle Association
                                    "Stock Water Rights in Idaho"
BLM tried to take the stock water rights, however ranchers/permittees prevailed at the State Supreme Court since the cattle were theirs, not BLMs, and that the ranchers were the ones that took beneficial use of the water.
 
9:20 - 9:40                  Doug Robison, Idaho President NWFC
                                    "Global Perspective on Impact of Covid-19"
Doug will update us on cases of Coronavirus around the State, US and World along with impact on economy, unemployment and other industry factors.
 
9:40 - 10:00                Whirlwind Tour of Idaho related to
                                    "County and Regional Fairs in Idaho"
                                            LIA Alumni will share the protocols for fairs in
                                            their community for operations of these events
                                             and activities.
                                    Invited:
                                                North Idaho Fair (CDA) - Linda Rider
                                                Latah County Fair - Jim Miller
                                                Twin Falls County Fair - Brent Reinke
                                                Cassia County Fair - Nic Wittman
                                                Eastern Idaho State Fair - Steve Smith
 
We hope you will join us on Zoom. Call-in information has been emailed to alumni.
The call will be recorded and posted later for viewing.