Cattle Industry is a Major Part of Idaho

By Sean Ellis

daho Farm Bureau Federation

The cowboy and ranching lifestyle in Idaho is not dying off. It’s just hard to see it from the road.

To be sure, there are fewer ranchers, and cowboys and cowgirls, in Idaho than in past years.

But there are still plenty of people living the ranching lifestyle in Idaho. According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, there were 7,259 livestock producers in Idaho during the 2022 census year.

There are about 2.5 million cattle in Idaho. That’s more cows than people and it’s not hard to see cows grazing from virtually every road in Idaho.

According to Cameron Mulrony, executive vice president of the Idaho Cattle Association, cattle is the only agricultural commodity that is statistically significant in every county in Idaho.

“Idaho’s cattle industry is a big part of the state,” he said. “It has a huge impact on Idaho agriculture from a financial standpoint.”

Idaho’s cattle industry is very important to the state’s overall economy. Idaho ranching operations brought in $2.9 billion in farm-gate revenue in 2024, according to an estimate by University of Idaho agricultural economists.

That ranks cattle and calves as the state’s No. 2 agricultural commodity in terms of farm-gate revenue, which is what farmers or ranchers receive for the commodity they produce.

In Idaho, the “cattle and calves” industry ranks only behind milk, which brought in an estimated $3.8 billion in farm-gate revenue in 2024. Since milk cows also eventually enter the beef chain, Idaho’s overall cattle industry is humungous and has a very large impact on the state’s economy.

Idaho’s cattle industry is about more than just raising cows and calves. The entire segment of the industry is well represented in Idaho.