Parma Research and Extension Center Centennial Celebration

On June 12^th the University of Idaho celebrated the one-hundredth year of the Parma Research and Extension Center in Canyon County.

The 200-acre center provides vital research in support of local agriculture

Verbatim:

You don’t often hear the national anthem performed on a harmonica, but that’s how the celebration began for the one-hundredth anniversary of the University of Idaho’s Parma Research and Extension Center in Canyon County.

Back in 1922 U of I entomologists were sent to Parma to help local farmers address an outbreak of alfalfa weevil.

(Chris Caron, Parma R&E Center director) “It was threatening their crop and their livelihoods. So farmers did what farmers do. They fought back and they pushed to find a solution. And that initial effort led to the creation of the Parma Research Station in 1925. So from day one, this place was put here to serve this agricultural community. And it's the growers, both big and small, and it's the agricultural industry as a whole that give this station its purpose.”

The anniversary is being celebrated this year in 2026 to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the college of agriculture and life science.  

The celebration included lunch, a historical photo display, children’s activities, insect gallery displays, and even the unveiling of some new artwork.

There were also stakeholder and industry booths, tours and educational activities, a pollinator garden, and research presentations highlighting the work that happens here.

(Leslie Edgar, J.R. Simplot endowed dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences) “This Parma Research and Extension Center continues to deliver the University of Idaho's land grant mission by conducting world-class research and disseminating that knowledge and support to our Idaho producers, not only in this Treasure Valley, but in this state and in the region and beyond that.”

Not so long ago the center faced an uncertain future.

(Leslie Edgar) “As some of you may know, in 2009, the center was slated for closure because of the recession. During that time, many of you that are here and many others stepped up.”

The ag industry rallied together to create the Treasure Valley Ag Coalition to save it, convincing the legislature to continue funding.

In 2024 they opened a new 9,600-square-foot building, replacing dilapidated facilities with modern laboratory space for research in nematology, pomology, plant pathology, microbiology and hops quality.  

(Leslie Edgar) “The Idaho Center for Plant and Soil Health, was a facility we just opened a couple of years ago. That's really important because we forget about the health of plants, really start from the soil level, right? So how do we make sure the soil is healthy, the plant is healthy, and then our entomologists that work here at the station are critical to make sure that we also understand the pests that are impacting production crop agriculture.”

(Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke) “In Idaho, we're pretty frugal with your tax dollars, and there's got to be a return on investment. And this and connecting the producers with the science and the processors and the businesses is the cycle that happens here at Parma. It happens in Twin Falls and the other extension areas around the state of Idaho. Our tax dollars are well invested when we invest in the cutting edge of still the most important industry in the state of Idaho is agriculture and food processing.

They talked about closing this. And I just, it had been my experience, I couldn't even imagine closing these extension services because they'd been so valuable.”

The 200-acre center provides vital research support in a major seed production area in which food producers raise 118 different crops.

(Leslie Edgar) “It's really been a little bit of everything so that growers in this valley can come here to get both the research and also some of the outreach efforts that we do. They can come right here and learn, get hands on. We do demonstrations and workshops right here out of this facility.”

(Lt. Gov. Scott Bedke) “I don't have anything more to add that you and this audience don't already know in spades. But I think that your call to action is to share that and to make sure that we never, that the Parma station is never on the chopping block again because of all the good work that it does. And the research that you do here is  absolutely cutting edge and important to our industry that we love.”