ODA says study underscores the importance of ag

By MITCH LIES

Capital Press

It's commonly stated that agriculture accounts for 10 percent of the state's economy.

A recently released Oregon State University study has increased that to 15 percent, after adding in Oregon agricultural sales at food service and drinking establishments.

In addition, although agricultural sales declined from $25 billion in 2008 to $22 billion in 2009, the decline wasn't as severe as in other industries.

Because of those two factors, agriculture's percentage of Oregon's total sales climbed from 10.6 percent in 2008 to 15 percent in 2009, according to the study.

"The updated study underscores that agriculture is a leading economic engine in Oregon," Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba said in a prepared statement.

The study also showed that agriculture in 2009 directly or indirectly supported nearly 261,000 full- or part-time jobs, or one in every eight jobs in Oregon.

The report, "Oregon Agriculture and the Economy: An Update," updates a 2008 study also done by OSU agricultural economists. The studies were commissioned by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

The updated study is the first that measured agriculture's impact "all the way through the food system," ODA analyst Brent Searle said.

"This report connects the economic flow of dollars ... from farm production through food processing, distribution, wholesale, then retail and food service," Searle said.

Among other categories, OSU economist Bruce Sorte analyzed farmgate sales, export sales, value-added sales, distribution and marketing.

The study showed that in 2009, more than $2.2 billion was added to the farm-gate value of Oregon-grown food, fiber, nursery and other products. Areas where the most value was added were breweries, wineries and distilleries, which make up one category, and frozen-food manufacturing. Both sectors generated nearly $400 million in added value.

Farmgate sales in the study were estimated at just under $4.2 billion in 2009, including $2.95 billion in crops and $1.24 billion in livestock sales, a decline of $600 million from 2008 farm-gate sales. Nursery crops, bulbs, greenhouse crops and turf showed some of the largest declines, dropping from $724 million in sales in 2008 to $650.5 million in 2009.

Farmgate sales of field crops, which include potatoes, mint and other crops, increased 10 percent, moving from $282 million in farm-gate sales in 2008 to $311.9 million in 2009.