Jay Wiley
Carmen
Jay Wiley of Carmen is being inducted into the 2015 Eastern Idaho Agriculture Hall of Fame for his contributions to cattle ranching.
Wiley has been an entrepreneur his entire life. He started his agricultural ventures as a young man raising bum lambs, ducks and chickens. He sold enough eggs to neighbors to purchase a milk cow and enough 4-H steers to finance his high school years. After working on various cattle and horse ranches gaining valuable experience, Wiley began operating his grandfather’s estate in 1987. He also leased additional land and purchased pasture.
By 1999 the re-introduction of wolves to Central Idaho became a major source of death loss for ranchers like Wiley. Seeing a need to avoid loss, Wiley restructured his operation starting a stocker cattle operation. Currently he has a short-term cow operation along with some custom fed cattle. Along with a partner, Wiley also operates a fencing business, a septic service and portable toilet rental business, and a trucking business in the North Dakota oil fields.
Among his outstanding contributions to agriculture, Wiley has served 30 years as a brand inspector and a livestock pollution investigator for the Idaho Department of Agriculture. A member of the Lemhi County Cattle and Horse Growers Association and past director of the Idaho Cattle Association, Wiley also serves on the Lemhi County Fair Board.
He is married to the former Eleen Shaw and they are the parents of two daughters.