Idaho agriculture leaders are welcoming Lt. Gov. Brad Little’s announcement that he’s running for governor in 2018, the Capital Press reports. “Brad Little is Idaho agriculture,” Food Producers of Idaho Executive Director Rick Waitley told ag newspaper. “Being a product of a strong Idaho farm and ranch family, the lieutenant governor understands the important value the industry adds to the state.”

Little, a third-generation rancher, is a former chairman of the Idaho Wool Growers Association. Waitley said Little as a senator and lieutenant governor has interacted frequently with FPI, which represents most of the state’s farm groups. As past president of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, Little also sees “the value of the industry when our commodities leave the farm,” he said.

“We have an excellent relationship with Brad,” said Leadore rancher Carl Lufkin. “He’s been an ally of our industry. I certainly am going to support him.” Meridian farmer Drew Eggers told Capital Press reporter Sean Ellis, “Brad has done a good job as lieutenant governor and ... I believe he is an ally for agriculture. I’m pleased personally that he is running.”

The Capital Press' full report is online here. Little, a Republican, filed paperwork last week to launch a campaign committee, saying supporters around the state have been asking him if he’s running, and he can’t start raising funds or lining up support until he takes that step. Little has been Idaho lieutenant governor since 2009, and was re-elected with strong margins in 2010 and 2014; he served four terms in the state Senate, rising to majority caucus chairman. Current Gov. Butch Otter has said he won’t run again after he completes his third term.