Economic study shows ag's regional impact

SPOKANE — More than 12 cents of every dollar generated and one job in 10 are attributed to the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries in the five-state region of the Northwest – Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

This comes from a study recently commissioned by Northwest Farm Credit Services and conducted by Oregon State University Extension Service Rural Studies Program and the University of Idaho Extension Service.

“Farm Credit has been supporting Northwest agriculture and forestry producers for a century, and fisheries since the ’70s,” said Phil DiPofi, Northwest FCS President and CEO. “We knew intuitively how vital these industries are to the Northwest, and wanted to quantify their contributions to the regional economy. This study affirms the significant impact producers have on the financial strength of our region.”

The study concludes that the total economic impact of the ag, forestry and fisheries segments comprise more than 885,900 jobs and nearly $176.1 billion in sales. Of this impact, 68.2 percent comes from agriculture, representing 7.5 percent of all jobs in the region and 8.3 percent of total sales.

Forestry follows at 23.8 percent of the impact, with 2.3 percent of all jobs and 2.9 percent of total sales in the region; and fisheries at 7.9 percent of the impact represents 0.9 percent of sales and 1 percent of jobs in the region.

Exports (either to other countries or other states outside the region) from these segments are worth $67.4 billion.