Just about everyone knows Idaho is king of the mountain when it comes to growing potatoes and potato production.
We grow a lot of potatoes in the state – to the tune of about 13.5 billion pounds every year. Sometimes, however, it’s hard to fathom a number like that so consider this:
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The average American consumes about 124 pounds of potatoes each year. Idaho grows enough potatoes to feed 108 million Americans that amount every year.
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The average potato truck can haul about 30,000 pounds of potatoes from the field at harvest to a potato processor or potato storage. The annual Idaho potato harvest translates into about 362,096 such trips. Stretch those trucks bumper to bumper and they would reach from New York City to near Winnemucca, Nevada. Or, going north to south, they would stretch from Miami, Florida to Presque Isle, Maine and then back again to the south to Hartford, Connecticut.
Now eastern Idaho doesn’t grow all of the state’s potatoes but a bit more than 60 percent of Idaho’s most famous crop is grown in eastern Idaho.
And there’s a pretty good chance, depending on what time of year you’re traveling through our part of the state to any number of amazing attractions and scenic wonders, you’ll either see a potato field, a potato storage shed, a potato processing plant or a load of potatoes on their way to a processor or being shipped out of state.
Or you’ll pass a wheat field or a sugarbeet field or a field of barley or a field of cattle, all of which are also top commodities in Idaho.
Agriculture and ranching are an important part of the economy and fabric of life in eastern Idaho and while many who drive along the highways and freeways might notice all this farmland and ranchland, they probably don’t think much about it.
Farmland that seems to stretch on and on usually gives way to mountains or desert, providing a scenic backdrop to a vital industry in eastern Idaho.
More Crops Than People
Many, if not all, major highways in eastern Idaho go through the heart of the vast agricultural area found here. If you’ve noticed the county line signs along many of those highways, you might recognize such names as Bonneville, Bingham, Bannock, Madison, Jefferson, Fremont, Teton and several others.
These counties hold some of the state’s most fertile and productive farmland and ranchland. Bingham County (home to Blackfoot and the Idaho Potato Museum, www.idahopotatomuseum.com), boasts of growing 20.4 percent of the state’s potatoes. Some quick math shows that this county alone raised 3.3 billion pounds of potatoes in 2023. Other eastern Idaho counties are also big ag producers, whether it is potatoes, sugarbeets, wheat, barley, corn and other crops.
When it comes to sugarbeets (a major source of sugar in the United States), which are grown as far north as Bingham County, the state ranks third in the U.S. when it comes to sugarbeet acreage. Last year, Idaho raised 175,000 acres of sugarbeets, which translates into 6,960,000 tons of beets.
World Class Research
Not only is Idaho one of America’s largest agricultural producers; it also leads the way in ag research, both in crops and livestock. This world class research helps Idaho not only maintain its position in many categories, but also benefits the respective industries at large as that ongoing cutting-edge research helps growers and ranchers nationwide and in many parts of the world.
Agricultural research stations are scattered across the state with a couple in eastern Idaho. The Aberdeen Research and Extension Center in Aberdeen annually offers a tour open to the public.
Hard Not To Notice
Even with eastern Idaho’s naturally scenic beauty and awe-inspiring views, it’s hard not to notice how farm fields and ranches are part of the tapestry of landscape. For those who take time to slow down a bit and take in even a portion of the vast farms and ranches spread out across the eastern part of the state, they’ll notice some of the necessities of farming and ranching in the Gem State.
There are tractors of all sizes, trucks and semis that haul all those crops, farm implements of all sorts and big sprinklers on wheels that go in a circle in a field called center pivots.
Growers also use wheel lines to deliver precious water to crops and fields. Catch it right and you’ll see a mist hanging in the air that helps light up a beautiful sunrise or sunset. Or you might notice a trail of dust kicked up by a grower or rancher heading to a field or farm to check on their cattle and/or crops.
Other common ag scenery in eastern Idaho include shimmering silver or white tall storage bins that are most likely either full of or waiting for grain. You might also share the road with a truckload of potatoes heading from the farm to a storage cellar or from the cellar to a packing shed or processing plant. Some of America’s and the world’s most famous (and tasty) frozen potatoes (usually in the form of french fries) are made right here.
Or if you’re on a country or backroad, you might have to pull over a bit to let a grain combine or tractor pulling a farm implement pass. Maybe you’ll see some cowboys herding cattle (or sheep) down a dusty road, although these days you’re just as likely to see them herding with an ATV as a horse.
Winter months tend to be a little quieter than spring, summer and fall months, which are abuzz with activity as farmers and ranchers are always on the go. Always. They have a relatively small window to prepare, plant, tend to and harvest their crops and so they make the most of their time from well before sunrise to long after the sun goes down.
Advancing technology, including in some cases artificial intelligence (AI) has in many ways helped farmers and ranchers do their jobs more efficiently. Farmers are producing more on less land. As they make the most of technology, which helps them conserve the resources they have and do more with less, they are adapting and growing, literally. One example of that is the aforementioned center pivot irrigation system. Most likely a grower is managing that via his or her cellphone from miles away. Not only can they start and stop the center pivot, they can manage how much fertilizer is precisely applied each go around of the pivot.
We love where we live and work and count it a blessing to be able to call eastern Idaho home. We love rubbing shoulders with those who are stewards of the land, who help feed us and who are some of the nicest, most humble and hard-working people you will ever meet. Those farmers and ranchers, many who are third, fourth and even fifth generation growers and ranchers, are the fabric of all that makes up this corner of Idaho.
Welcome to our little corner of the world.
Idaho Ag Rankings
No. 1 in the nation
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Potatoes
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Barley
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Alfalfa hay
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Peppermint oil
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Food trout
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4
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Dry onions
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Spring wheat
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Lentils
No. 5
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Dry edible beans
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Corn silage
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Dry edible peas
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Lentils
*Idaho’s market value of agricultural products sold in 2022 was $10.89 billion