Idaho growers taking losses despite bountiful season

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Idaho's growing season is over, and the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation says local farmers are facing tough times to make ends meet.

When people think of Idaho, images of potatoes, fertile land, and agriculture usually come to mind. For generations, farming has been the backbone of the state's economy. Now, that foundation is cracking under financial pressure, with many struggling to stay in business.

"This year's growing season in Idaho was a really good actually. In some cases, maybe nearing record yields," said Sean Ellis, spokesman for Idaho Farm Bureau Federation. "Remember, farmers are price takers, not price makers. They take what's offered to them. And so they're being offered prices for their farm commodity, for their crops that are well below what it costs them to produce those crops."

The cost to grow a crop is at a record high, while the prices farmers receive for those crops continue to decline. Ellis says farmers are getting less for their work when the average consumer is paying more for food. 

"It's the middlemen, that's the reason prices are higher at the retail level than at the farm level: it's the middlemen. Transportation, you know, retail markups, wholesale markups, promotion and marketing the whole bit. It's not the farmers that are getting that money. It's the middlemen that's getting it," said Ellis.

This economic squeeze isn't new, and the impact is visible across the state. Between 2017 and 2022, Idaho lost over two thousand farms, an alarming rate of about one farm per day.

"The problem is, this current period of down commodity prices has been extended. This has been going on for several years now. It's getting to get to a head right now. So something's got to change," Ellis warned.

On a brighter note, Ellis mentioned that the outlook for ranchers appears significantly better than for row crop producers right now.