Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
e. 1. Assessment of Need
Current Narrative:
There are over 25,000 farms in Idaho with over 160 commodities produced. Most of Idaho’s crop farming requiring intensive use of hand labor occurs in the southern part of the state on the Snake River plain. Idaho’s top five labor-intensive crops are potatoes, sugar beets, hay/grain, onions, and corn. These crops are labor-intensive primarily because many workers are needed for irrigation. However, these crops also need planting in the spring, hoeing, thinning and then harvesting. In addition to the top five labor-intensive crops mentioned, hops are cultivated in the northern and southwestern parts of the state and there is large production of peas and lentils in north-central Idaho. Nursery operations are another important agricultural activity, mainly for the production of ornamental trees in north Idaho. The dairy industry, concentrated in the south-central part of the state, is on the rise; many large dairy operations produce their own hay on the same properties. Idaho currently leads the nation in the production of potatoes, food-size trout, and Austrian winter peas, and the state ranks third in the production of milk.
Idaho’s need for an agricultural labor force has remained steady in the last few years despite the economic downturn, and it is projected that agriculture may become a high-demand industry. The projections provided by IDOL’s Research & Analysis Bureau show the need for farmworkers is approximately 60,000 during the peak of the agricultural season.