Agriculture remained a big contributor to Idaho’s economy in 2022 as farm cash receipts and net income hit record highs.

“In 2022, we blew the socks off of almost every ag category in the state,” University of Idaho agricultural economist Garth Taylor told the Legislature’s Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee Jan. 5.

The percentage of state Gross Domestic Product that Idaho gets from agriculture ranks fifth in the country behind top-ranked South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa.

Agriculture accounts for 12.5% of Idaho GDP and 12% of the state’s jobs, including more than 40% of jobs in the dairy-heavy south-central region, Taylor said. Idaho ranks third in the country in milk production.

“We are a milk-driven state,” he said.

The state’s dairy sector can keep getting more efficient by adding cows and using technology to get the most out of economies of scale, Taylor said. Because the industry is big and can keep growing, it has a major impact on the growth of agriculture and its contribution to the state economy.

Farm cash receipts from 1997 to 2022 grew by 50% for the U.S., 90% for Idaho and 290% for Idaho milk, he said.

Livestock in 2022 supplied 57% of the state’s total farm cash receipts — 38% from milk, 17% from cattle and calves, and 2% from other livestock. Livestock’s total share of cash receipts would be 75-80% if it included feed inputs like hay, silage, potato waste and beet pulp, Taylor said.

Overall receipts increased by 28% to an estimated $11 billion, helped by high prices, UI’s Financial Condition of Idaho Agriculture report said. Other contributors included potatoes at 12%, hay at 7%, wheat at 6%, sugar beets at 4%, barley at 3% and other crops combined at 11%.

Hay overtook wheat to become the No. 2 crop in receipts, behind potatoes, as hay revenue in 2022 jumped 39% not including the estimated 45% of the crop that is fed on-farm instead of sold.

Potato and milk revenues hit record highs, with high open-market potato prices late in the year making up for acreage and yield declines. Beet revenue exceeded the 2021 record by 6.6% as acreage held steady, tight water supplies in a chunk of the growing region contributed to slightly lower yields, and the average price rose by more than 8%.

A projected 56% jump in net farm income in 2022, to $3 billion — a record high that is 43% above the 10-year average — reflects a 27% increase in total revenue and a 20% rise in total expenses, the report said.

Inflation-adjusted net farm income from 1997 to last year increased by 80% in the U.S. and 150% in Idaho, Taylor said.

By exporting products to other states and countries and in turn importing money that ripples through the state, farming and agribusiness contribute substantially to the economy even though the state tax revenue they generate is volatile, he said.