Ag Proud – Idaho's very own emeritus editor Lynn Jaynes was recently honored with the Don Hale Idaho Hay and Forage Association (IHFA) Hall of Fame Award.
Rick Waitley, the association’s executive director, praised Jaynes in an announcement about the award at the 2024 IHFA Conference in Idaho Falls. Waitley said, “[Lynn is] very deserving of this honor and [has] been a definite leader in the Idaho hay and forage industry for several years.”
Jaynes’ journey in agriculture and writing began after attending college at Brigham Young University. She farmed with her husband, Fred, south of Twin Falls for several years, raising five children in the process. Jaynes says that “being a farm wife was all I ever wanted, but farming forever wasn’t in the cards for us.” They eventually reduced the farm to a few acres of hay and moved south of Filer, and both went to work at other jobs.
Jaynes’ second love, after farming, was writing. She merged her love for agriculture with writing 11 years ago when she joined Progressive Publishing in Jerome as the managing editor for Progressive Forage magazine. This role opened her eyes to the diverse practices in hay production.
Reflecting on her experience, Jaynes humorously remarks, “What a surprise it was to an Idaho girl to realize there were growers who never put one drop of irrigation on their alfalfa!”
In her time as editor, Jaynes contributed to various sister magazines such as Progressive Dairy and Progressive Cattle, and more recently Ag Proud – Idaho.
Walt Cooley, vice president of Progressive Publishing, commended Jaynes for her outstanding contributions to the company, including her role in launching Ag Proud – Idaho magazine in 2019.
“Lynn laid a solid foundation for Ag Proud – Idaho,” Cooley says. “She is a talented and relatable individual, serving as a friend and mentor to many within the industry and our company.”
Expressing her gratitude for the award, Jaynes says, “For a ‘woman of words,’ it’s amazingly hard to adequately express my love for this industry and the people in it. I always thought my first love was family, then farming, then writing. Maturity has made me realize that my first love is God, family, farmers and then (but still) agriculture. I have been so privileged to meet with so many smart, humble, God-fearing hay producers – and that really has been the highlight of my career.”
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