Commodities

Idaho's Dairy Industry

Ranked third nationally for overall cheese production, fifth in milk production and fifth in number of milk cows, Idaho's dairy industry has grown significantly in recent years. Between 1994 and 2003 Idaho milk production more than doubled as producers from several other states including California, Pennsylvania and elsewhere moved their operations to Idaho. This influx of growth has brought with it thousands of production and manufacturing jobs. It has also increased demand for feed crops like corn and alfalfa, which helps other farms.

Regarding manufacturing, Idaho cheese plants produced 770 million pounds of cheese in 2006.

There were 455,000 milk cows on farms in Idaho in 2006 with an average milk production per cow of 21,718 pounds. The farm gate value of Idaho milk exceeded $1 billion for the first time in 2001. In 2006, the farm gate value of milk produced in Idaho was $1.4 billion.