This year’s Idaho barley crop is looking smaller than last year’s record 60 million bushels.
Despite the state’s 8% decline in production, Idaho’s barley crop faired well in a cold spring. USDA says that Idaho accounts for 39% of the nation’s barley crop.
Idaho has led the nation in barley production every year since 2016.
Despite a successful barley season, some Idaho farmers are still quite pessimistic.
An economist at the University of Idaho says that the concerns in the latest Ag Economy Barometer largely reflect how Idaho farmers feel about the future.
According to Pat Hatzenbuehler, “For much of 2024, historically high input costs have been the biggest concern among U.S. producers, and they still are in the most recent Ag Economy Barometer, but those low input prices have become almost equal with regard to concern throughout the course of 2024. And so, they’re basically not a good combo when you have concerns that are almost equal for high input costs and also low, low crop prices.”
While a variety of issues are weighing on the minds of Idaho farmers, economists say what is happening in the dairy sector today will have their attention for the foreseeable future.
“Keeping an eye on milk prices over the next year and whether they can come up a bit, which I think is the forecast for now,” he adds. “That would be beneficial for not only the dairy producers themselves but also their partners like feed sellers and other people that the dairy industry works with.”
He went on to say that he will also be watching basic economics issues like supply and demand to see what kind of ripple effects those could have across Idaho’s farming community.
