Cash receipts for livestock and crops in 2024 are estimated at $11.3 billion, a 4% increase over 2023. Cash receipts for milk, Idaho’s leading agricultural commodity, were estimated to be 11% higher than 2023. Those for potatoes, Idaho’s highest revenue crop, were estimated to be 6% lower than 2023.

Brett Wilder

Area Extension Educator – Farm Business Management / University of Idaho

Email Brett Wilder

Xiaoxue "Rita" Du

Assistant Professor / Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology / University of Idaho

Net farm income for 2024 was estimated at $3.3 billion, 12% higher than in 2023 and 37% above the 10-year average. At $9.1 billion, estimated expenses are expected to be down, 2% over 2023’s all-time high of $9.3 billion. While Idaho’s agriculture industry appears strong in aggregate, nearly all year-over-year revenue gains can be attributed to the livestock sector. A majority of crop producers are expected to be worse off than a year ago.

Highlights

• Exports from farms and food processors create a ripple effect throughout Idaho’s economy, ultimately helping to make agribusiness one of Idaho’s largest industries. About 1 of every 6 dollars in sales is directly or indirectly created by agribusiness.
• Idaho agriculture is driven largely by livestock. Cash receipts from milk, cattle and calves, and other livestock (trout, sheep, chicken eggs, etc.) comprise 62% of total 2024 agricultural cash receipts. Hay, silage, feed grains and byproducts from sugarbeet and potato processing are used as feed for Idaho livestock.
• Milk saw an 11% increase in estimated cash receipts for 2024 of $3.8 billion, up from $3.5 billion in 2023. Revenues from milk production remain the highest of all agricultural commodities produced in Idaho.
• Cattle and calves are expected to post their third consecutive new all-time high for cash receipts in 2024 at $2.9 million, up from $2.6 million in 2023.
• Idaho, the top potato producer, is estimated to see a moderate decline, with cash receipts of $1.25 million, down from $1.35 million in 2023. 
• Except for 2009 – a year of disastrously poor milk prices – livestock cash receipts have surpassed crop cash receipts for every year since 2001. In 2024, livestock cash receipts are estimated to surpass crop cash receipts by more than $2.7 billion.
• Idaho’s net farm income for 2024 is estimated at $3.3 billion, up 12% from 2023’s $2.9 billion. 
• Federal government payments to Idaho producers in fiscal year 2024 are estimated at $111 million, a decrease of 13% from 2023.

Contribution of agribusiness to Idaho’s economy 

Agribusiness is a vertically integrated industry comprising food production and processing. In providing food to national and international markets, agribusiness creates business sales and jobs throughout the Idaho economy and contributes to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP). Agribusiness export dollars ripple throughout Idaho’s economy, creating (directly and indirectly, as of 2022):

• $37.5 billion in sales or 17% of Idaho’s total economic output
• 126,800 Idaho jobs or approximately 12% (1 in every 9) of jobs in the state
• $14.5 billion in value-added or 12.8% of Idaho’s gross state product (GSP)

Idaho farm cash receipts

Idaho’s 2024 farm cash receipts are estimated at a record-high $11.3 billion, a 4% increase over 2023’s $10.9 billion and 29% over the 10-year average of $8.8 billion.

Crop revenues in 2024 are estimated at $4.3 billion, down 6% from 2023’s $4.5 billion but still 20% greater than the 10-year average. Sugarbeets (up 1%) and other crops (up 5%) are the only crops forecast to have higher year-over-year revenues. Hay receipts are expected to be down 27%, 8% below the 10-year average. Receipts for all other major crops (barley, wheat and potatoes) are expected to remain above their long-term average but decline 6% to 7% relative to 2023.

Livestock revenues are estimated at an all-time high $7 billion, up 11% from 2023, and 34% greater than the 10-year average. Milk receipts are the largest component of this category, with projected 2024 cash receipts of $3.8 billion (up 11%). Cash receipts from cattle and calves are estimated at $2.9 billion (up 10%) and receipts from other livestock are estimated to be approximately $321 million (up 12%). 

In real dollars (inflation-adjusted to 2017), estimated cash receipts are 52% greater than the long-term (1980-2024) average. High inflation over the past four years has led to a 25% disparity in real versus nominal cash receipts. In inflation-adjusted terms, Idaho farmers earned slightly less than in 2014 – the most recent all-time high before 2022.

Idaho net farm income

Net farm income, revenues minus costs, is the farmer’s bottom line. Revenues include cash receipts from crop and livestock sales, inventory changes, the estimated value of home consumption, government payments, machine hire and custom work, forest product sales and the imputed rental value of farm dwellings. Farm expenses include farm-origin inputs (purchased livestock, feed and seed), manufactured inputs (fertilizers, fuel and electricity) and “other inputs,” including repairs and maintenance, machine hire and custom work, marketing, storage, transportation and contract labor.

The projected 12% increase in 2024 Idaho net farm income reflects a 1% increase in total revenues and a 2% decrease in total expenses. Net farm income in 2024 is estimated at $3.3 billion, which is 37% greater than the 10-year average. The USDA U.S. net farm income estimate for 2024 is $141 billion, down 4% from 2023.

Historically, net farm income is much more volatile than gross cash receipts. In seven of the past eight years, Idaho experienced double-digit percentage swings in net farm income. Real-dollar Idaho net farm income (inflation-adjusted to 2017) was the second-highest value in recorded history, with the highest being in 2022 ($3.1 billion). Idaho’s real net farm income in 2024 is estimated at 69% above the long-term average (1980-2023).

The modest decrease in farm expenses in 2024 is primarily attributed to 8% to 13% decreases in feed purchases, fertilizer, pesticides and fuel. Some of that decline was offset by a 5% increase in interest expense and a 10% increase in livestock and poultry purchases. Most other categories were essentially flat year over year.

Idaho government payments

Federal government payments to Idaho agriculture in fiscal year 2024 are estimated at $111 million, which is 14% lower than in 2023 – the lowest point since 2015. This reflects a continued reversion to normal following the extreme COVID-19 relief-driven highs in 2020 and 2021. Idaho is estimated to have received around 1% of total 2024 payments to U.S. agriculture.

Idaho agriculture’s gross domestic product

GDP measures value added, the value of output minus the value of intermediate goods and services used in production. The GDP grows when farms and businesses become more efficient, increasing output while reducing the use of intermediate inputs. In 2023, Idaho’s nominal GDP was approximately $121 billion, of which 3.3% was generated by farming. Nominal farm GDP in 2023 decreased 24% to $4 billion from $4.9 billion in 2022. It is estimated that final nominal 2024 Idaho farm GDP will be on par with 2023 levels while 2024 real GDP will see an inflation-related decline. Over the past seven years (2017-23), Idaho’s inflation-adjusted (2017 dollars) total GDP has grown over 30%, while Idaho farm GDP declined by 2%.

Idaho livestock and crop revenues

• Cattle and calves – In 2024, revenue from cattle and calves is estimated at $2.9 billion. Most of this increase is attributed to record beef cattle prices. USDA NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service) reports that the Idaho beef cow inventory grew 2% from Jan. 1, 2023 (449,000) to Jan. 1, 2024 (457,000). The U.S. beef industry is in a state of contraction – the U.S. beef cow herd is not expected to increase again until 2026. Idaho’s efforts to begin rebuilding its cow herd may be slowed by loss of range due to wildfires in 2024.
• Milk – Stronger year-over-year milk prices led to increased milk revenues of $3.8 billion in 2024, up from $3.5 billion in 2023. Production volumes were basically flat, up 0.26% in 2024 compared to 2023. Milk cow inventories in Idaho as of Jan. 1, 2024, were 663,000, which is a 0.3% increase compared to 2023. Prices received ranged from $20 to $26 per hundredweight (cwt) throughout 2024; on average, this is a 10% increase from 2023.
• Other livestock – Revenues for other livestock (e.g., trout, sheep, goats, chickens, eggs) are estimated at $321 million, a 12% increase from 2023. While sheep and goat prices were moderately lower year over year, the majority of this category (42%) is now chicken eggs. The USDA is forecasting a 39% increase in national chicken egg receipts due to higher prices, which will have a positive impact on Idaho’s cash receipts as well. The remaining other livestock categories (hogs, turkeys, trout, etc.) are expected to show a relatively flat performance from 2023 to 2024.
• Barley – Idaho barley production in 2024 decreased by an estimated 4.9 million bushels (8%) relative to 2023. Harvested acres fell from 540,000 to 510,000 and yields fell from 112 bushels per acre to 109 bushels per acre. The production decrease, paired with lower 2024 harvest prices, resulted in a cash receipt estimate of $398 million, down 5.5% from $422 million in 2023.
• Hay – Hay cash receipts for 2024 are projected to be $448 million, down 27% from $614 million in 2023. Approximately 45% of the hay produced in Idaho is fed to animals on the farms where it was produced rather than sold. Thus, the total value of hay production is estimated at $808 million in 2024. Idaho hay production in 2024 was estimated at 5.1 billion tons, 3% lower than in 2023. The year-over-year gross sales decline is driven by a nearly 30% decrease in prices.
• Potatoes – With 2024 revenues estimated at $1.25 billion, a 7% decrease from 2023, potatoes remain Idaho’s largest cash crop. Planted and harvested acres of 315 million were down 5% from 2023. In addition, yields came in marginally lower year over year at 430 cwt per acre, down 5 cwt per acre from 2023. This resulted in an estimated production of 135 million cwt, a 6% year-over-year decrease. Roughly 60% of annual cash receipts are based on 2023 (old crop) market and contract pricing which was as much as 20% higher, on average, than 2024 (new crop) prices. Potato cash receipts are expected to decline in 2025.
• Sugarbeets – Sugarbeet yields fell slightly in 2024 to 39.7 tons per acre, down from 40 tons per acre in 2023. Sugarbeet production for 2024 is projected to be 6.7 million tons. Harvested acres were lower at 169,000 acres in 2024 as opposed to 174,000 acres in 2023. This is partially due to an 18% replant rate, the highest since 2020. Idaho’s projected 2024 average sugarbeet price of $70 per cwt is 5% higher than the $67 per cwt estimated to have been received in 2023 – final 2023 prices still have not been reported. Sugarbeet revenues are estimated to be an all-time high of $470 million, 1% higher than 2023.
• Wheat – Wheat is Idaho’s second-largest crop by revenue in 2024. Wheat revenues for 2024 are expected to be $564 million, down $44 million (a 7% decrease) from 2023. Harvested acres increased 10% to 1,135 million acres and yields increased 3% year over year to 89 bushels per acre, leading to an overall 13% production increase to 101 million bushels. Prices fell 21% from 2023 to 2024 on average.