“The ag community is all suffering. We all know this,” says Brandon Vining, president of ProGro Agronomy in St. Anthony. Agronomic outcomes differed by region, but low commodity prices and high input costs have most producers (outside of the beef industry) tightening their belts and hoping for better times.
“The big picture is that there’s no happiness at the farmgate,” says Mike Kennedy, owner of Infinity Agri-Service in Cottonwood. “I don’t know of a farmer that’s making money.”
Above-average yields under irrigation
Overall, in the irrigated portions of the state, crops did well in 2025. “Yields on the majority of the crops we take care of over here were up,” says Vining. “I don’t know one crop that was below average.”
Bo Isham, owner of Ag Idaho Consulting in Homedale, reported excellent crops in west Idaho, as well. “It was a really mild summer. All plants responded well. The seed crops seemed to pollinate well. There was no monsoon rainstorm to affect cercospora in beets,” he says. “Beets were absolutely phenomenal across the state – east to west.”
Spring 2025 was deceptively wet. “Early, it felt like we had a lot of preseason moisture,” says Isham. “That went away really fast. We didn’t anticipate having to irrigate as soon or as frequently as we did.”
In east Idaho, says Vining, planting finished and ground temperatures were up early. “That helped contribute to overall benefits in yield,” he says. But it was also a challenge, as the rain shut off quickly after early April showers. “Some guys got behind early because it got hot early,” he says. “Irrigation systems here are built for maintenance.” Without rain events or cool periods, it was hard for those producers to catch up on water.
Irrigators in both east and west had good water availability. “They did a good job filling the reservoirs,” says Isham.
Poor yields on dryland
By contrast, Vining says, “Dryland areas suffered. We had one decent rain before Memorial Day that carried us through.”
The heat also hit dryland producers in the Panhandle. “Yields were off anywhere from 10 to 20 percent,” says CHS Primeland Senior Sales Manager Ron Heath of Lewiston. Of his area, from Riggins to the Canadian border and west into Washington, he says the Camas Prairie was the best performer. “They had the luxury of catching a few rainstorms that others didn’t.”
Even with those saving rainstorms, the Camas Prairie saw moderate to severe drought. “We got 50 to 60 percent of our historical rainfall for the 2025 water year,” Kennedy says.
North Idaho producers were hopeful for good yields in 2025, with good winter crop establishment and two drought years already behind them. “When I was driving around this spring, there were some wheat crops that looked phenomenal,” says Heath.
But, just like in south Idaho, the weather changed quickly. “Anything seeded in spring struggled with the lack of moisture,” says Kennedy. “The only things that did well were seeded on fallow ground.”
On the Palouse, spring crops were more common than usual, as poor wheat prices had encouraged producers to divert acreage away from winter wheat and into pulse crops. Overall, says Heath, “It was a rough year for the Palouse farmer.”
Given the widespread rainfall deficit, Kennedy’s biggest surprise was that some crops performed less poorly than expected. “It was very area-specific,” he says of these better pockets, “and obviously farming practices matter.”
Poor prices all around
Unfortunately, commodity prices negated good crops on irrigated land and exacerbated the dryland farmer’s problems. “The garb market just crashed – I did not expect that,” said Heath in November. “The wheat market sucked, so everyone from here to Russia elected to plant garbanzos.”
“There’s not one commodity in southeast Idaho that we’re growing that has potential for profit right now,” says Vining.
“Prices were pretty poor, relatively across the board,” Isham says. “Mint might be a small bright spot.”
“On the cropping side, the only really hopeful thing is canola,” says Kennedy, looking ahead to 2026. “Canola looks like it might break even.” However, Heath says planted winter canola acres are down in his region.
'Pray we’re at the bottom'
Finances are the foremost concern for most right now, but agronomic concerns and broader management goals have not gone away. “We’re trying not to mess with rotations too much by chasing dollars,” Isham says.
Herbicide resistance is also still on the radar. “We’re all kind of watching the water hemp situation that’s going on in western Idaho, wondering if it’s moving this way or not,” says Vining. Producers in his area are also staying alert for wild oats with Group 1 and Group 2 herbicide resistance.
Input costs for 2026 remain unknown, with both tariffs and exports remaining wild cards. “Three years ago, I would have predicted the fertilizer markets and thought I had some idea what the grain market would do,” says Heath, “but it’s impossible to predict.”
“We’re talking a lot about controlled expenses – applying only what we need, when we need it,” says Vining. That might mean evaluating thresholds for pesticides or embracing variable-rate fertilizer. He is encouraging his growers to use technology to improve efficiency.
Some producers are cutting back in other ways, including fallowing more fields to allocate more resources to the acres they do plant. “Farmers always want to cut back on fertilizer in bad times, but the only way to make it in tough times is to get good yields,” Heath says. “You can save yourself right into bankruptcy.”
Whatever the game plan, Kennedy encourages his clients to go into the next few years with a business mindset. “You have to know what your cost of production is, know what your revenue is and don’t spend what you don’t have.”
With so many factors weighing on producers’ minds, he adds, “There is an insane amount of fear and apprehension right now. If prices don’t start to go up, the fail rate will be high. At the farm level, the only thing they have is hope.”
And perhaps there are glimmers of hope. Weather was good for fall planting across the state. “We had enough fall rain to get things to look OK,” says Kennedy. “The odds of having another severe drought, after three years in a row, looks slim.”
And for those north Idaho growers facing a world oversupply of winter wheat, perhaps small comfort can be found in a slow upward trend in bread product consumption in developing countries. “It’s not a good place to be right now, but it’ll come up,” says Heath. “That’s how farming is. I just pray we’re at the bottom.”
