Farm Census

Jerome County, Idaho

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

448 farms180,152 acres in farms$944 million in farm sales

In Jerome County, the irrigated share of its farmland is the eighth-highest among the 2,411 counties with at least 50,000 acres in farms.

Its number of milk cows grew between 2017 and 2022, the third-largest increase among the 99 leading milk cow counties of 2017 with figures in both years.

Milk: 55.0%Milk55.0%Cattle and calves: 23.3%Cattle and calves23.3%Hay and other crops: 8.3%Hay and other crops8.3%Grains and oilseeds: 7.7%Grains and oilseeds7.7%Withheld groups: 5.6%Withheld groups5.6%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Hogs and pigs: under 0.1%Milk: 55.0%Milk55.0%Cattle and calves: 23.3%Cattle and calves23.3%Hay and other crops: 8.3%8.3%Grains and oilseeds: 7.7%7.7%Withheld groups: 5.6%Withheld groups5.6%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Hogs and pigs: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: vegetables and melons, fruit and nuts, nursery and greenhouse crops, poultry and eggs, sheep and goat products and other animal products.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Milk from cows$519 million3rd of 19
Cattle and calves$220 million2nd of 33
Hay and other crops$78.6 million6th of 41
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$72.6 million8th of 30
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$87,00025th of 35
Hogs and pigs$17,00013th of 23

What the fields held

Jerome County harvested 132,964 acres of cropland in 2022, 14th of 42 counties in Idaho. Hay and haylage covered acreage equal to 30% of that, corn for silage 19%.

CropAcresShare of US
Hay and haylage40,0450.07%
Corn for silage25,1380.42%
Barley21,9260.90%
Sugar beets17,5301.5%
Vegetables10,3700.24%
of which potatoes9,7560.91%
Wheat8,373under 0.1%
Corn for grain4,715under 0.1%
Dry edible beans4,4310.36%

Withheld to protect individual farms: orchard land and apples.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms47.1%

Jerome County ranks 13th of 44 counties in Idaho on this measure.

  • 150,930 acres of cropland, 84% of farmland
  • 31,538 acres of pastureland, 18% of farmland
  • 697 acres of woodland, 0% of farmland
  • 139,509 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

The typical farm in Jerome County is smaller than the national median of 72 acres, at 43 acres. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 402 acres, 29th-largest of 42 in Idaho. The most common size class is 1–9 acres, with 26.6% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 10.7% of the total.

1–927%10–4925%50–17913%180–49915%500–99910%1,000–1,9996%2,000+5%
Jerome County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Milk cows103,0431.1%
Cattle and calves269,0310.31%
Beef cows11,176under 0.1%
Goats913under 0.1%
Horses and ponies464under 0.1%
Sheep and lambs312under 0.1%
Hogs and pigs115under 0.1%
Turkeys46under 0.1%
Broilers sold in 2022260under 0.1%

Withheld: laying hens.

Who farms here

Decisions on Jerome County's 448 farms are made by 833 producers. Their average age is 54.7, 1.9 years below the Idaho average. Women are 33.7% of them.

Under 3510%35–4421%45–5415%55–6424%65–7422%75+8%
Jerome County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms486−7.8%
Land in farms, acres171,643+5.0%
Average farm size, acres353+13.9%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$640 million+47.6%
Sugar beets, acres8,859+97.9%
Milk cows, head70,038+47.1%
Potatoes, acres8,511+14.6%
Barley, acres13,297+64.9%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Jerome County accounts for 8.7% of farm sales in Idaho and 2.0% of the farms in Idaho. Rank Idaho counties for sugar beets.

Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.