The Idaho legislature approved a doubling of the Alfalfa and Clover Seed Commission’s assessment cap and a change to the board’s composition.

Fewer acres and rising costs drive the need for House Bill 173, supporters said.

Proceeds from the assessment fund research, promotion and education. In statute, the assessment is a quarter cent per pound of clean seed sold, and can be increased up to the current cap of a half cent with approval from the State Department of Agriculture director. The director approved increases to four tenths of a cent in 2008, four and a half tenths in 2016 and a half cent in 2019.

HB 173 raises the cap to one cent as of July 1.

The commission board now comprises six grower members and a seed dealer member. The bill calls for a representative of the University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences to replace a grower.

The university representative likely will come from the UI Parma Research and Extension Center, said Rick Waitley, commission administrator and Idaho Alfalfa and Clover Seed Growers Association executive director.

Idaho has fewer growers and acres, and finding people to serve on the commission can be difficult, he said.

The assessment would not be one cent per pound, but would “have that ceiling,” Waitley said.

The commission would decide the assessment, to take effect for the 2026 crop season, he said. The higher assessment limit “should carry them for several years.”

Idaho remains a major producer of alfalfa seed but has 20-30% of the growers it had two to three decades ago, said Kuna-area farmer and dairy operator Dave Reynolds, who grows alfalfa seed and hay.

The industry in recent years has been breeding for hay quality but not necessarily to optimize seed yield, said Reynolds, who serves on the National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance board.

And in the Treasure Valley of southwest Idaho, soil types vary and competition from other crops is strong, he said.

Acres are shifting to locations with fewer cropping choices, such as Wyoming, Montana and Canada, Reynolds said. Eastern Idaho remains a major hay production region for similar reasons.

Hay acres have dropped a bit, for reasons including less research compared to some crops such as corn and soybeans, he said.

The commission pays NAFA, which has helped to boost research funding for the industry and played a role in making new insurance products available, Reynolds said. The commission also financially supports a Western regional group and entomology work at UI-Parma.

Commission support to NAFA and universities helps the minor-use crop — with acreage typically too low to attract investment by pesticide companies — secure approval for chemicals, said Paul Rasgorshek, a major southwest Idaho alfalfa seed producer who leads the growers association.

Hay as a component of the dairy and beef cattle feed ration has been reduced substantially, a factor in the reduction in alfalfa seed acres, he said. Silage corn is a bigger portion of the ration, particularly in dairies, and more producers are incorporating grasses, triticale and barley.

“And we deal with imports of seed,” Rasgorshek said.

Alfalfa seed “is still a valuable industry” in Idaho, where key infrastructure includes seed development and cleaning companies, Reynolds said. “We don’t want to lose it.”