Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: NAMPA, Idaho (AP) — The amount of land in Idaho dedicated to farming is up to 11.7 million acres. The 2012 Census of Agriculture released last week and covering 2007 to 2012 says land in farms increased by more than 260,000 acres during that span. The Idaho Press-Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1gc3Snm) that's nearly as much Idaho land in farming as Idaho had in 2002. Across the state, 20 Idaho counties saw increases in farmland and 22 had decreases. Two counties didn't have information. In highly populated Ada County in southwest Idaho, farmland declined by 47,000 acres and there are 100 fewer farms. In nearby Canyon County, farmland acres increased 17 percent to more than 300,000, but there are 40 fewer farms. The number of farms in Idaho dropped by about 500 over the five-year span.

The Press-Tribune’s full report is online here. It reports that Canyon County saw a big jump in land used for farming from 2007 to 2012, a figure that previously had been dropping.