Diane Temple, Idaho Technology Council | September 10, 2026
https://idahobusinessreview.com/2026/09/10/agriculture-drives-idahos-growing-technology-economy/
For generations, agriculture has been central to Idaho’s identity.
While it remains a driving force in our state, an important area of change involves the technology increasingly embedded within it.
Today’s Idaho farm is also a technology operation. Producers rely on precision equipment, sensors, automation, advanced irrigation, data analytics and increasingly sophisticated supply chains to improve productivity and compete in a global marketplace.
That matters because agriculture is not separate from Idaho’s technology economy. It is one of its foundations.
The Idaho Technology Council’s 2026 Tech Economy Report examined 17 technology and technology-adjacent sectors using Lightcast’s 2026 first quarter labor-market analysis. The findings show that some of Idaho’s greatest technology strengths are rooted in industries that have defined our state for generations.
Agricultural technology and precision farming employ nearly 41,000 Idaho workers. Adjusted for the size of Idaho’s workforce, that concentration is about 2.6 times the national average. Food manufacturing and processing technology tells a similar story: More than 22,000 Idahoans work in the sector, giving Idaho approximately 2.2 times the national employment concentration.
Those numbers challenge the traditional idea of what a technology economy looks like.
Technology may be operating inside a semiconductor fabrication facility in Boise, but it may just as easily be improving plant nutrition in Burley or using artificial intelligence to make one of Idaho’s most established agricultural industries safer and more efficient.
At the Idaho Technology Council, we have had the opportunity to hear those stories directly.
When we launched the Tech Economy Report at our Intersection of AI & Ag event, Amalgamated Sugar President and CEO Fran Malecha joined University of Idaho Director of AI & Automation John Shovic on an ITC stage to discuss how artificial intelligence is being applied inside an industry deeply connected to Idaho’s agricultural economy.
University of Idaho researchers have partnered with Amalgamated Sugar to develop an AI-driven system that monitors the company’s steam-drying process. According to the university, the system uses AI algorithms to detect potential problems before a dangerous plugging event occurs, helping improve employee safety while keeping production moving.
It is an important example of what practical artificial intelligence looks like. AI is not being adopted simply because it is new. It is being used to solve a real business problem.
The following month, at iTECH Twin Falls, Redox Bio-Nutrients owner, founder and CEO Darin Moon took the keynote stage to tell another version of Idaho’s technology story.
Darin and his wife, Valerie, founded the company more than 30 years ago. Headquartered in Burley, Redox was founded in Burley and develops plant bio-nutrition and biostimulant technologies designed to improve nutrient efficiency, soil health, root development and plant resilience. The company is also expanding its Burley headquarters by nearly 22,000 square feet, adding research and warehouse capacity as it continues to grow.
Innovation is not something rural Idaho is waiting to receive. It is already being created there.
These are not examples we went searching for after seeing the data. They are Idaho companies and leaders whose stories bring the data to life.
And they illustrate something the Idaho Technology Council believes is essential to understanding Idaho’s economic future: Technology does not stay in its lane.
Artificial intelligence intersects with agriculture. Robotics intersects with manufacturing. Data intersects with food production. Cybersecurity intersects with energy and health care. Technology increasingly becomes part of how nearly every industry operates.
That is why ITC has taken a broader approach to defining Idaho’s technology economy. Our Triangle of Innovation framework recognizes distinct strengths in north Idaho, eastern Idaho and the Treasure Valley, with agriculture as the statewide foundation connecting them.
Idaho does not have to choose between preserving its agricultural heritage and building a technology economy. Increasingly, they are the same story.
That creates an important opportunity for rural Idaho. A young person growing up in Burley, Twin Falls, Jerome or another agricultural community may someday work with robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, data or advanced manufacturing without leaving the industries or the communities that shaped them.
That is technology workforce development. It is also rural economic development.
Some of Idaho’s greatest opportunities will come not only from attracting new technology companies, but from helping the companies and industries already here use technology to become more productive, resilient and globally competitive.
When we listen to Idaho leaders tell these stories on ITC stages, one thing becomes clear: Idaho does not need to invent an innovation economy from scratch.
It is already happening in our fields, our processing plants, our laboratories and our rural communities.
Our opportunity is to recognize it, connect it and help it scale.
From farm to fab, that may be one of Idaho’s greatest competitive advantages.
Diane Temple is the president and CEO of the Idaho Technology Council. She can be reached at Diane@IdahoTechCouncil.org.