The University of Idaho plans to ask the 2023 Legislature to fund three key jobs for its new Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment dairy research facility.

The new jobs are in addition to the three that lawmakers approved in 2022, said Michael Parrella, dean of UI’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

The center includes a demonstration farm and research dairy with up to 2,000 cows near Rupert, an outreach and education center near Jerome and a food-processing pilot plant and training facility at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.

“The dairy industry is a major CALS customer, and that is what CAFE is all about — applied research,” Parrella said. The jobs include an extension education component.

Idaho ranks third in U.S. milk production, behind Wisconsin and California.

The industry’s goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is reflected in the proposed hires, as is the center’s sustainability mission, Parrella said. The goals stand to benefit dairies, processors, growers of feed and other crops, and water resources.

“We have core faculty who have been addressing the needs of the dairy industry for 30 years,” he said. “Now we are looking at greenhouse gases and the environmental need.”

For 2023, Legislature will be asked for an animal scientist with a focus on ruminant nutrition, a plant science researcher focused on forage production and an agricultural engineer specializing in air quality and irrigation technology. The combined cost is $394,000, and the jobs would start Jan. 1, 2024.

The public’s significant investment in the CAFE dairy near Rupert “has clearly shown the need for research on sustainable livestock and cropping practices,” the budget request said.

For example, the ruminant nutritionist will address cattle nutrition’s role in greenhouse gas emissions, and phosphorous use within the animal.

The Legislature this year funded a Rupert operations manager, a research scientist focused on soil sampling and monitoring, and a 4-H youth science, technology, engineering and math educator specializing in precision and regenerative agriculture.

UI over the next month or so expects to receive bids for the dairy, which is targeted to start operating by the end of 2024.