The value of Idaho’s 2018 agricultural production was $7.69 billion, up 3 percent from the previous year’s revised value of $7.49 billion. The value of Idaho’s crop production in 2018 was $3.26 billion, up 7 percent from 2017. The value of livestock production in 2018 totaled $4.43 billion, down less than 1 percent from the previous year. The rankings of the top eight commodities remained unchanged from 2017.
Milk remains the leading agricultural commodity in the State with a 2018 value of $2.38 billion, down 6 percent from 2017. Milk represented 31 percent of the total agricultural value compared with 34 percent in 2017. Cattle and calves remained in the second position and had value of production totaling $1.41 billion dollars in 2018, up 2 percent from 2017. Potatoes ranked third in 2018 with value of production of $1.03 billion, up 5 percent from the previous year. Hay value of production was $773 million, up 8 percent from 2017, fourth in the State ranking. Wheat rounded out the top five with a value of $539 million, up 26 percent from the previous year. These five commodities had a combined value of $6.13 billion, or 80 percent of the 2018 value for all commodities (excluding government payments). The same five commodities in 2017 had a combined value of $6.02 billion, also 80 percent of the total value. Hops value of production, up 22 percent from 2017, moved up two positions to ninth in the State. Dry edible beans rounded out the top ten with value of production of $73.2 million, down 8 percent from the previous year.
There were commodities outside the top five that showed significant increases in value from the previous year. Sugarbeets, barley, corn for grain and hops all increased in value by double-digit percentages. Corn for grain production, with a value of $128 million in 2018, increased 30 percent from the previous year. The value of barley totaled $269 million, up 17 percent from 2017. Only two of the top 10 commodities declined in value from the previous year. Other notable commodities outside the top ten that declined in value in 2018 were onions, down 34 percent to $48.7 million; trout, down 20 percent to $40.3 million; and honey, down 22 percent to $5.83 million.
The complete report can be read in the attachment below.