Camas Prairie street cred

NEZPERCE — Farmers on the Camas Prairie have a new crop adviser whose farming roots in this area go back four generations.

Klae O’Brien recently took the reins of the Lewis County University of Idaho Extension office in Nezperce. She follows Audra Cochran, who transferred to Clearwater County, and longtime extension educator, Ken Hart, who retired two years ago.

“I’m the fourth generation in my family to live and work on the Camas Prairie,” O’Brien said. Although people don’t recognize her last name as a Camas Prairie pedigree, “when I tell them my grandma is a Nuxoll from Greencreek and my grandpa is a Johnston from Grangeville, that gives me a little street cred right off the bat.”

O’Brien grew up in Aberdeen, Idaho, in Bingham County near Pocatello on a farm and cattle ranch. The family also raised crops and forage in an irrigated system. She was active in 4-H as a youngster, raising market lambs, market steers and horses, and participating in cooking and sewing.

Her 4-H leaders and mentors sparked her interest in a career in extension education, and by the time she graduated from the University of Idaho with a master’s degree in agricultural education, she knew what she wanted to do.

“My sophomore year I did an internship with Jim Church (retired UI extension educator in Idaho County) and I really fell in love with extension work, especially up here on the Camas Prairie.”

O’Brien joins a wave of younger women who are leading extension programs in northern Idaho. She works regularly with Cochran, who specializes in forestry, and Idaho County Extension Educator Meranda Small, a livestock expert. O’Brien’s forte is cereal crops and said this team is bringing a fresh look and energy to agriculture programs for producers in the area.

“We have a lot of passion,” she said. “I think Ken (Hart) and Jim (Church) were so amazing but we’re bringing a new life and a new style.”

Although she’s been in the job only about four months, O’Brien said her primary goal for this first year is to go out into the community and get acquainted with the producers she’ll be working with. One thing she has already noticed is how many of the farmers in this area are not only interested in how to continue to be productive but also open to new ideas.

“I think a big piece of what I’ve seen so far is the farmers around here have been very proactive and interested in a lot of the university’s research,” O’Brien said. “One of the cool things about Lewis County is, in 2023, Lewis County had more acres of canola than any other county in Idaho (22,000 acres). So we have a really productive farming system up here and we have some really amazing farmer go-getters. And so a big piece of my goal is connecting these farmers with what is going on at the university, but also, what else is out there.”

That includes local farmers who have shown interest in the university’s $55 million Innovative Agriculture and Marketing Partnership that aims to study nine commodity groups developing farming practices to align with climate change. That program is still in the rollout phase but O’Brien said she’s seen “quite a bit of interest” from farmers who “want to improve productivity while keeping the environment in mind.”

“My goal going forward is not only to carry on the traditions of this office,” she said, “but also to expand and figure out what the farmers want from me and how to get that for them. ... I have ideas and I have opinions and knowledge but if it’s not relevant to the farmers then it’s wasted time and energy. My goal is just to get to know the people and what they want.”

O’Brien said she has a “serious boyfriend” and on weekends when she’s not traveling or working she’s either helping out on the family farm in Grangeville or hiking, backpacking or camping.

“So I’m very outdoorsy,” she said. “And this is a perfect place for that. And I’m also a big family person and proud of being a fourth generation on the Camas Prairie. I want to contribute to an area that was really a pivotal part of my life. I didn’t grow up here but the Camas Prairie has always been home to me.”

O’Brien may be reached at the Lewis County Extension Office at (208) 937-2311 or by email at kdobrien@uidaho.edu.

Hedberg may be contacted at khedberg@lmtribune.com.