Idaho Dairy Well Positioned For The Year Ahead

Last year was a good year for those connected to the livestock sector.  We here at the PNW Ag Network have talked a lot about how beef enjoyed great prices and strong demand in 2025, but dairy had a good run last year as well.

Rick Naerebout, CEO of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, says producers across the state enjoyed good margins and healthy milk prices.  He said that has resulted in decent tailwinds for the year ahead.

“We've got good investment happening in the industry," Naerebout said.  "You've got Chobani putting $1 billion into Idaho's industry and their expansion.  You've got Idaho Milk Products adding, and they'll be online about the same time as Chobani, late winter, early spring with ice cream churning facility in Jerome. And so we continue to see investment in our industry and growth in our industry, and things are going well.” 

Naerebout added another positive for the dairy industry was the value of dairy on beef and cull cows to the bottom line, a trend he sees continuing for the foreseeable future. 

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