Receipts from farm marketings totaled $3.8 billion in 2001 (21st in the US); farm industry income was about $1.8 billion. As of 2002, Idaho led the US in potato production; was 2nd in sugar beets and barley; 3rd in hops, peppermint oil; and 4th in spearmint oil.
Development of the russet potato in the 1920s gave Idaho its most famous crop. In 2002, the state produced 133,385,000 hundredweight of potatoes (29% of the US total); some 90% were grown on about 110,000 acres (45,000 hectares) of irrigated land on the Snake River plain. About three-fourths of the crop is processed into frozen french fries, instant mashed potatoes, and other products. Other leading crops were hay, 5,608,000 tons, valued at $534,688,000; wheat, 87,660,000 bushels, $339,628,000; barley, 53,960,000 bushels, $164,578,000; and sugar beets, 5,040,000 tons, $187,758,000.
As of 2002, Idaho had 11.9 million acres (5.4 million hectares) in farms, roughly 22% of the state's land area; an estimated 24,000 farms, (including ranches) averaged about 490 acres (198 hectares). Almost 3.5 million acres (1.4 hectares) of land were irrigated.