The University of Idaho's Agricultural Research and Extension Service will see a $2.3 million increase in state support next year, reports Bill Spence of the Lewiston Tribune, including $200,000 it didn't even request. The Legislature's joint budget committee unanimously approved a $28.7 million fiscal 2016 budget for the agency; that's an 8.6 percent increase over the current year, and returns funding to the level it was at before the 2009 recession.

The budget includes $1.5 million to fully fund 16 technical support research positions – several of which have been paid for previously with grants that run out this month – as well as to provide 5.5 new positions, including a grant writer, three 4-H educators, a web technician and half-time marketing/communications position, Spence reports. The budget includes $200,000 the agency didn't ask for to pay for two new sheep research positions.

Sen. Steve Bair, R-Blackfoot, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture has operated a high-altitude sheep research facility near Dubois for more than 100 years. However, it's now threatening to close the station. The $200,000 “is a good-faith effort to keep that facility open,” he said. It will provide two state-funded research positions at the station. Spence’s full report is online here at his “Political Theater” blog.