Report shows massive impact of ag on Idaho’s economy

By Sean Ellis

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

Agriculture is a massive part of Idaho’s overall economy and it is still growing, according to a University of Idaho report released this year.

The report shows that agriculture in Idaho was directly and indirectly responsible for $37.5 billion in sales in 2022, which equaled 17 percent of the state’s total economic output.

“That $37 billion is a big number,” said the report’s author, U of I professor Phil Watson. “That’s pretty significant.”

Titled “Economic Contribution of Idaho Agriculture,” the report also found  that agriculture was responsible for 126,800 jobs in Idaho in 2022, which amounted to one in every nine jobs in the state.

It found that agriculture accounted for 12.8 percent of Idaho’s total gross state product, which is a broad measurement of the total value of all goods and services.

“There’s no question a lot of the economy in Idaho is tied to agriculture,” Watson said.

The report, which is conducted by Watson every three or four years, was released in early January this year to state lawmakers as they convened in Boise for the start of the 2024 legislative session.

The report is based on several sources, including data from USDA and the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

It is based on 2022 data and updates a previous report by Watson that was based on 2019 data.

The previous report also showed that Idaho agriculture was responsible for 13% of Idaho’s total GSP.

Watson said it is significant that agriculture’s contribution to Idaho’s overall economy remains steady even while the state has one of the fastest-growing economies in the nation.

“The state’s economy is growing really fast and agriculture is keeping up,” he said. “Ag isn’t falling away here, like it is in other states. Agriculture in Idaho is still growing.”

Watson said the report is meant to show lawmakers and others the important role that agriculture plays in Idaho.

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation President Bryan Searle said the report certainly does that.

“The numbers and data contained in this report are huge but not terribly surprising to people involved in the state’s agricultural industry,” said Searle, who farms in Shelley. “Idaho’s overall economy is supported by the state’s 22,877 farms and ranches and the linked sectors that support them.”

“This report does a wonderful job of showing just how important farming and ranching is to Idaho,” said Andi Woolf-Weibye, executive director of the Idaho Bean Commission. “Agriculture, and all its supporting industries, literally are the backbone of the state’s economy and way of life.”

The report includes the direct and indirect impacts that agriculture has in the state.

For example, it would include the impact of fertilizer and farm equipment sales.

Not including indirect impacts, the report found that agriculture in Idaho alone was responsible for $27 billion in sales in 2022, 73,470 jobs, and contributed $9 billion to the state’s GSP.

“The big message from this report is that Idaho agriculture is incredibly important not only to Idaho’s economy but also to economies at the county level,” said Brett Wilder, a U of I agricultural economist. “Agriculture is an incredibly large part of what we do in this state.”

The report also shows that agriculture in Idaho accounts for a much greater part of the state’s overall economy than it does in neighboring states.

It shows that even without including its indirect impacts, agriculture accounts for 7 % of Idaho’s total gross state product.

That is 4.3 times greater than in Washington, 14 times greater than in Nevada, three times greater than in Oregon, 4.2 times greater than in Utah, 3.6 times greater than in Wyoming, two times greater than in Montana, and 3.6 times greater than in the United States as a whole.

“When you look at the Pacific Northwest, Idaho really is the top state when it comes to agriculture,” Wilder said.