The largest grant in the University of Idaho’s history — which incentivizes farmers statewide to experiment with creative marketing strategies and resilient production practices — has been reinstated in its entirety after a yearlong pause.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) notified officials with the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) and their partners in April that they may resume work on the five-year, $59 million Innovative Agriculture and Marketing Partnership (IAMP) program.
More than 200 Idaho farmers representing 34 counties applied for incentives across seven commodities through the original IAMP program, which was approved in 2024 as part of USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. However, USDA terminated IAMP in April 2025 based on new criteria that retroactively placed greater emphasis on helping producers access new market opportunities and increased the minimum percentage of funding awarded to farmers from half to 65% of the total. The agency invited IAMP leaders to revise the program to meet the new standards and reapply, though the federal government shutdown further delayed the process.
The IAMP team, led by Erin Brooks, a professor in the Department of Soil and Water Systems, and Doug Finkelnburg, area Extension educator in cropping systems, plans to reengage with the original pool of growers before potentially accepting applications for new acres. Some growers had already received IAMP payments when the program was paused, while others on the list were still waiting for their application to be processed.
Source : uidaho.edu