House Agriculture Committee approves Idaho Oilseed Commission rule rewrite; hears presentation on crops and research

The House Agriculture Affairs Committee approved minutes and recommended approval of a rule docket that would remove the refund-application provision from the Idaho Oilseed Commission's administrative rules, then heard a presentation from the commission's administrator on acreage, funding and research partnerships.

The rule change stems from a conflict between the commission's administrative rule and Idaho statute. "My name is Paci Laracia Phillips, and I stand before you today as the administrator of the Idaho Oilseed Commission," Phillips told the committee, and explained the commission removed the refund-application provision after review of Idaho Code Title 22, Chapter 47 and an affidavit from a former commission chair that a growers' referendum had taken place.

Committee action and why it matters

The committee voted to approve the meeting minutes for Jan. 16, 2025, and then voted to recommend full-committee approval of the docket related to the Idaho Oilseed Commission rules. The commission sought to remove duplicative language and the refund-application subsection from its administrative rules; Phillips said that Idaho Code 22-47-17 addresses the refund/escrow account and that a successful referendum held shortly after the commission's creation removed the need for the administrative refund provision. Doug Scoville, identified in committee materials as a past chairman of the commission, provided an affidavit saying a referendum was held and passed.

Phillips told lawmakers the commission ran negotiated rulemaking in 2024 and solicited stakeholder input by newsletter and open meetings. She said the rewrite primarily removed unnecessary or duplicative language, clarified first-purchaser rules and eliminated the refund-application section that conflicted with statute.

What the Idaho Oilseed Commission does and resources

Phillips described the commission's statutory basis—Idaho Code Title 22, Chapter 47—and said the commission's statutory levy is 10 cents per hundredweight on oilseeds sold or contracted through commercial channels. She said the commission's work focuses on research, education and market development for Idaho oilseeds, including canola, safflower and mustard. Phillips provided acreage figures reported to the Farm Service Agency: canola about 93,652 acres, mustard about 8,200 acres, safflower about 17,000 acres, flax about 520 acres and camelina about 915 acres.

The commission's operating budget is roughly $175,000, Phillips said, and she described research as the largest expenditure category followed by administration and marketing. She told the committee the commission has used a Specialty Crop Block Grant administered through the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) as a pass-through to fund mustard research with the University of Idaho.

Research, partnerships and processing

Phillips described a partnership with the University of Idaho to fund a plant-breeder position focused on canola and on developing an overwintering mustard variety for parts of the state. The commission also contracts with private firms such as Crop Matters LLC for trials and cited research at the Blue Creek site south of Preston, Idaho (on the Utah side of the border). Dr. Jared Spackman at the University of Idaho was identified as leading specialty-crop culinary mustard research referenced in the presentation.

On processing and markets, Phillips said most Idaho canola that is crushed is transported to a Viterra facility in Warden, Washington. She said some southeastern Idaho producers truck or rail canola to a crush facility in Kansas when appropriate, and she described Mountain States Oilseed in American Falls as a local purchaser and distributor of mustard and safflower.

Committee questions and record

Representative Ehlers asked about the affidavit cited by the commission, noting the document appeared to be dated February 2007. "So I just want to get clear, this affidavit looks like it was signed in 02/2007," Ehlers said; Phillips replied that she had been hired in October 2022, that several administrators had served since the commission's creation in 1996, and that she did not know why the issue had not been followed up earlier but that the current administration had reviewed and cleaned up the rules.

No formal changes to statute were proposed during the meeting; the committee's action was to approve the docket as presented and forward it for committee consideration. The committee adjourned after the presentation.

Ending

Committee members did not request further immediate follow-up; Phillips said she and the commission would continue research and outreach work on behalf of growers and thanked the committee for the opportunity to present.