press release
Recently, 30 food and agriculture groups released the sixth annual Feeding the Economy report, a historical farm-to-table economic analysis that highlights how these sectors affect the local and broader economy of the United States. Two years on from the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s study shows how resilient industries have remained to provide Americans with jobs, economic opportunity and safe food.
This study provides policymakers with insight into how the food and agriculture sector feeds not only Americans, but the US economy as well. The economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to further highlight the critical importance of the food and agriculture industry.
The Economic Impact Study shows that 17.77% of the nation’s economy and 29.14% of America’s jobs are directly or indirectly related to the food and agriculture sector. In addition, the analysis broke down the economic impact of the food and agriculture sectors by state and congressional district. Here are the key results for Utah:
Total number of jobs: 438,644
total wages:$19.9bn
Total taxes: $5.8 billion
Exports: $1.5 billion
Total economic impact of the food and industrial industry: $71.3 billion
“The important role of the food and agriculture industry in feeding Americans is well known, but less is spoken about their incredible impact on the growth of the national economy. The Feeding the Economy report allows us to quantify our industry’s role in supporting the U.S. economy and better understand how we can continue to nurture those contributions,” said Craig Buttars, commissioner for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
To measure the macroeconomic impact of the sectors, the analysis also includes the direct and indirect economic activity around these industries, capturing both upstream and downstream activities. For example, if an agricultural machinery dealer hires new employees because farmers are buying more tractors, experts see the new salaries as an indirect effect. Similarly, when a retail worker spends their paycheck, an induced economic impact occurs. Together these have a multiplier effect on the already impressive direct impacts of food and agriculture.
The full analysis underlines the importance that the food and agriculture industries have for jobs, wages, exports and taxes in our country. The data provided includes the indirect and induced economic activities related to these industries.
Visit www.FeedingTheEconomy.com to view the full report.
Sponsoring organizations include: American Bakers Association, American Beverage Association, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Feed Industry Association, American Soybean Association, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, BIO, Corn Refiners Association, CropLife America, FMI – The Food Industry Association, Global Cold Chain Alliance, Institute of Shortening and Edible Oils, International Dairy Foods Association, International Fresh Produce Association, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, National Automatic Merchandising Association (NAMA), National Corn Growers Association, National Grain and Feed Association, National Milk Producers Federation , National Oilseed Processors Association, National Pork Producers Council, National Restaurant Association, NCA – The National Confectioners Association, North American Meat Institute, Peanut and Tree Nut Processors Assn (PTNPA), SNAC International, The Fertilizer Institute, The Sugar Association Inc. , US M ilch Export Council and US Grains Council.
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