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Extension economist: Idaho farm cash receipts topped $11.3 billion nominally; dairy and livestock lead the sector
Summary
Extension economist Brett Wilder told lawmakers Idaho agriculture reached record nominal cash receipts in 2023, highlighted the dominance of milk and livestock, and flagged high interest expenses and export exposures as items to watch.
Brett Wilder, an extension economist based at the University of Idaho’s Caldwell Research and Extension Center, presented the committee with a statewide agricultural economic outlook, reporting nominal record cash receipts and outlining near‑term risks.
Wilder said Idaho is a relatively small state economy in absolute terms but agriculture remains a major sector. "We're looking at an all time high of $11,300,000,000 from Idaho agricultural production, farm gate prices received by producers," he told the committee. He said milk was the single largest commodity at about $3.8 billion and cattle and calves were about $2.9 billion in receipts.
Wilder highlighted several sectoral numbers and trends: farm and agribusiness activity accounts for roughly 17% of total state economic output and about one in nine jobs in Idaho when direct and related activity are counted. He noted U.S. Department of Agriculture data and his office’s forecasts that showed an all‑time nominal high in cash receipts for Idaho in 2023, and he said a 2024 forecast pointed to increases in some categories.
Wilder detailed specific pressures on producers. He said inflation‑adjusted measures show mixed results and that interest expense has risen substantially since 2021; the committee heard a figure of about $647,000,000 in interest expense paid by Idaho farmers and ranchers in 2024. He also said government payments were expected to decline for Idaho in 2024 (noting a large federal program affecting Midwest corn and soybean producers that will mostly benefit other regions).
On exports, Wilder said Idaho ag exports were about $1.2 billion in 2023 and forecast near‑term increases to roughly $1.4 billion, with Canada and Mexico as the largest international markets. He singled out the growing contribution of some sectors — for example, chicken eggs were noted in the presentation as a roughly $160,000,000 cash‑receipt sector that in 2024 would exceed corn in farm‑gate receipts.
Wilder described the interplay between dairy and beef markets, the multi‑year production cycles for herd rebuilding and the lag between price signals and grocery‑store retail changes. He and legislators discussed credit access, Farm Service Agency and the farm credit system as avenues for lower‑cost capital to producers.
Ending
Wilder summarized that Idaho agriculture remains important to the state economy but faces watch items — interest costs, global trade uncertainty and feed/processing demand cycles — that could influence farmer incomes and local processing investment.
