Idaho Ag Posts Third Year of Record Cash Receipts

Idaho's farmers and ranchers posted a third year of record cash receipts with a tally of $7.8 billion, up 3 percent from 2012, according to University of Idaho agricultural economists.

Net farm income was projected at $2.7 billion, a decline of about a half percent or $12 million but considered essentially stable when compared to 2012. A slight increase in expenses accounted for most of the decrease. Even so, the 2013 net farm income was 56 percent above the 10-year average.?

University of Idaho's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Dean Dr. John Folz shares more details

Folz: "Crops overall at $3.5 billion in cash receipts down 1 percent from the previous year but livestock at $4.3 billion up 7 percent."

Foltz further explained the dip in overall crop receipts by 1 percent was largely due to declines in sugar beets and wheat.

The state's livestock industries, beef and milk, generated the majority of cash receipts, nearly $4.3 billion or nearly 55 percent of the total. Milk sales totaled $2.573 billion, up 6 percent from 2012, and cattle and calf sales generated $1.505 billion, up 8 percent.