By BRAD CARLSON Capital Press
Oct 4, 2024
BONNERS FERRY, Idaho — For 100 years, the Houck family has farmed a stretch of northern Idaho, growing wheat, barley and other crops.
The Idaho State Historical Society and State Department of Agriculture have now awarded Century Farm status to Houck Farms near Bonners Ferry, and the Houck family has set up a scholarship fund in partnership with the state FFA Foundation.
Houck Farms is one of 11 farms and ranches honored as century farms this year.
S.L. Houck and his family moved from Cheney, Wash., in 1924 and started farming nearly 500 acres in Idaho’s Kootenai River Valley.
Sons Marvin, Edward and Raymond worked on the farm for many years. Following Edward’s death, family members established Houck Farms Inc. — which for 30 years has managed nearly 3,000 acres, including S.L. Houck’s initial acreage and parcels that Marvin and Edward acquired.
Production includes winter wheat, food barley, feed barley, Timothy grass seed, canola, alfalfa hay, other forage, Red Angus cattle and timber.
A recent challenge involves ongoing dry conditions in far northern Idaho, said Jeff Hood, a fourth-generation farmer and grandson of Marvin Houck.
A current project for the family involves “successful succession planning to ensure ongoing operation for the next 100 years,” he said. The family is transitioning the operation to a fifth generation.
Houck Farms uses sustainable and regenerative practices to promote soil health and clean water. To aid environmental health and drive productivity, the family uses management-intensive grazing, silviculture, active timber management, GPS-guided equipment, no-till planting, cover crops, setback strips and crop rotation.
Idaho established the century farm and ranch award program, a partnership of the Historical Society and Department of Agriculture, in 1990 as part of the state’s centennial celebration. More than 450 farms and ranches have received Century Farm awards, which recognize families who have continuously owned and actively managed the same land for 100 years or more.
Bonners Ferry Mayor Rick Alonzo presented the Century Farm award to Tim Dillin, fourth-generation farmer and grandson of Edward Houck. The award “acknowledges the legacy of the Houck family and the contributions of the descendants of S.L. Houck for their longstanding dedication to the land, agriculture, and commitment to investing in the future,” he said.
The Houck Farms Scholarship will be awarded to Bonners Ferry FFA students each year.
“Thanks to the generosity of local farms, businesses, friends, neighbors, the Houck family and relatives, the scholarship endowment is just over $50,000,” said Dillin, a past Idaho Grain Producers Association president and state Barley Commission board member.
By investing in future agricultural leaders through the Idaho FFA Foundation with a new endowment, Houck Farms “is encouraging youth development through agriculture education and participation in the agriculture industry,” said foundation executive director Carly Jordan. “We are honored to award scholarships to FFA members in perpetuity in the Houck family name.”
For more information, contact Jordan at 208-856-0288, carly@growidahoffa.org or P.O. Box 827, Star, Idaho 83669.