As hot summer nights give way to the cool crisp evenings of autumn, and tractors fire-up the harvest season, it’s a perfect time to reflect on the importance of agriculture to the Gem State’s economy.

Once synonymous with potatoes, Idaho has recently developed a well-deserved reputation as a center of high-tech manufacturing. This emphasis on technology may lead one to think agriculture is no longer a major underpinning of Idaho’s economy. That would be a huge mistake.

Several fundamental characteristics define Idaho’s ag sector:

1. It is incredibly diverse
2. It is a far more important sector in Idaho than it is for the nation as a whole
3. It is growing significantly when measured by its value of production
4. It is easily the most interconnected sector of Idaho’s economy

Idaho’s ag diversity is more than anything a function of Idaho’s diverse topography. From field crops in the heavily irrigated Snake River plain to peas and lentils in the dryland farms of the Palouse, Idaho is home to dozens of different crop and livestock products. Practically everyone in the U.S. associates Idaho with potatoes (and vice-versa), but far fewer are likely to think of Idaho when they hear dairy (Idaho is 3rd nationally in cheese production and 5th nationally in milk production and milk cows), barley (Idaho is 2nd nationally), hops (Idaho ranks 3rd in the nation), lentils (Idaho is 4th), or sweet cherries (Idaho is 6th in the nation). And while many may associate the whitewater state with pristine wild trout habitat, it is the trout farmers of the Thousand Springs area that make Idaho the nation’s number one producer of food size trout.

Agriculture is also a much more significant share of Idaho’s economy than it is for the nation as a whole. Over the past 35 years Idaho’s share of farm proprietor income to total personal income has averaged more than 5 times the corresponding U.S. ratio. The high points were 20.4 times the U.S. share in 1983 and 12.3 times the U.S. share in 2002, while the two lowest years were 1.3 times in 1977 and exactly the same share as the U.S. in 1979.

By now it should be apparent how important agriculture is to Idaho. During the period 2000 to 2005, the value of Idaho ag sector production grew from $3.865 billion to $5.009 billion, a 29.6 percent increase. By way of comparison, over that same period Idaho personal income grew by 30.1 percent. In other words, although Idaho is not adding to its inventory of land (in spite of eastern Oregonians’ secret longing to be annexed by Idaho), Idaho’s ag production is keeping pace with Idaho’s overall economy. And if we look at employee compensation, for ag that measure grew from $361 million in 2000 to $491 million in 2005, a 36 percent increase. Overall wages in Idaho grew by 23 percent over the same period.

Finally, it is hard to overstate the extent to which agriculture (i.e., farm and ranch production) supports other business activity through both forward and backward linkages. Backward linkages refer to the inputs required by farm and ranch production such as feed, seed, fertilizer, equipment, equipment repairs, etc. The forward linkages refer to the processing of the output of farms and ranches, and includes such activities as manufacturing (food processing is the second largest employment sector, behind computers and electronic equipment), wholesale trade (this is where packing houses reside in the employment data), and transportation (both short and long-haul). A 2001 study by the University of Idaho, based on 1998 data, examined these forward and backward linkages and found that agriculture was responsible for over 100,000 jobs in Idaho, comprising over 17% of the state’s non-governmental employment.

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