Idaho’s beef industry generated more farm revenue than dairy in 2025, ending a more than two-decade run with milk and dairy products as the state’s leading agricultural commodity.
Cattle and calf sales brought in an estimated $3.9 billion in cash receipts last year, a 17% increase from $3.3 billion in 2024, according to the USDA’s Farm Income and Wealth Statistics report. Milk and dairy products followed closely at approximately $3.85 billion.
These figures show just how close the two industries were in 2025.
By the numbers:
- $3.9 billion: Idaho cattle and calf receipts in 2025, up 17% from 2024.
- $3.85 billion: Milk and dairy product receipts.
- 22 years: Dairy’s run as Idaho’s top agricultural commodity.
- 68%: Share of Idaho’s total agricultural receipts generated by milk, cattle and calves, and other livestock.
Dairy had held the top spot among Idaho agricultural commodities since 2003, according to University of Idaho agricultural economist Brett Wilder. Record beef prices and higher-value beef-on-dairy calves helped cattle and calf revenue move ahead.
As beef prices have climbed, more dairy producers have bred cows to beef sires, producing calves with greater value in the beef market. Those returns have also influenced how producers manage their herds and make culling decisions.
“[Dairy farmers] are holding on to more animals because there’s $1,000 or more beef-on-dairy cross calves potentially available on the backside of that breeding,” says Kathleen Wolfley, vice president of insights at EA Risk.
The value of beef-cross calves has changed the economics of keeping cows producers might otherwise remove from the herd. When day-old calves approached $2,000, the additional revenue helped offset the cost of keeping those cows in production.
Beef-cross calf prices have eased from their peak near $2,000 in May, but at about $1,300 per head, they remain well above the roughly $200 level common before 2023.
U.S. Beef Herd Remains Tight
Despite the jump in cattle and calf revenue, Idaho’s beef cow inventory fell 4% in 2024. The state has faced challenges rebuilding its cow herd, including the loss of grazing land to wildfires.
The broader U.S. cattle inventory is also historically low. USDA reported 86.7 million cattle and calves nationwide as of Jan. 1, 2025, the lowest total inventory since 1951. The beef cow herd stood at 27.9 million head, its lowest level since 1961.
“The U.S. beef industry is in a state of contraction; however, the U.S. beef cow herd is expected to grow again in 2026,” Wilder says.
Rebuilding the national herd will take time, and Idaho faces its own challenges. The 2024 wildfires reduced available grazing range and slowed the state’s efforts to rebuild its beef cow inventory.
Wilder expects milk revenue to reclaim the top spot among Idaho agricultural commodities within the next two years.
“Revenues from milk production are expected to reclaim their place as the highest of all agricultural commodities produced in Idaho in 2026 or 2027,” Wilder says.
Livestock Drives Idaho Farm Revenue
The rankings reflect the growing influence of livestock on Idaho’s agricultural economy. Milk, cattle and calves, and other livestock accounted for 68% of the state’s total agricultural cash receipts in 2025.
Livestock has generated more revenue than crops in nearly every year since 2001. The exception was 2009, when low milk prices weighed heavily on dairy revenue. In 2025, livestock receipts were estimated to exceed crop receipts by more than $4.3 billion, according to the University of Idaho.
Potatoes remained Idaho’s largest cash crop and ranked third among all agricultural commodities, generating an estimated $1.1 billion in receipts. Revenue was down from $1.25 billion in 2024.
Wheat ranked fourth at approximately $518 million, a 15% decline from $610 million the previous year. Sugar beets rounded out the top five with $460 million, down 2% from $470 million in 2024.
