Prepared by the St. Louis Agribusiness Club

1
THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRIBUSINESS TO THE BI-STATE
ECONOMY

• Prepared by the St. Louis Agribusiness Club
• October, 2004

2
AN OVERVIEW OF AGRICULTURE

• Planet Earth is home to 6.3 billion people
• Experts say by the year 2050, our planet will
  have a population of 9 billion
• Feeding the world's population will be the
  responsibility of an efficient and productive
  agriculture

• Source United Nations, World Population
  Prospects The 1994 Revision U.S. Census Bureau,
  International Programs Center, International Data
  Base and unpublished tables.

3
AN OVERVIEW OF AGRICULTURE cont

• In the 1940s, one farmer supplied 19 persons in
  the United States and abroad
• Now, one farmer supplies food for 135 people - 97
  in this country and 32 abroad 

Source USDA Economic Research Service
4
WHAT IS AGRIBUSINESS?(according to the
Agribusiness Council of America)
Agribusiness is a broad term which encompasses
all aspects of agricultural production,
processing and distribution.

• This includes
• Agribusiness/farm management
• Food, forest and fiber production - their
• bi-product utilization
• Agricultural chemicals and pharmaceuticals

5
Agribusiness cont

• Agricultural finance and trade
• Farm management
• Agro-environmental considerations
• Land development
• In short, all of the major elements essential to
  the establishment and operation of efficient
  agro-food enterprises

6

• The Bi-State Region is the Center of American
  Agriculture

7
METROPOLITIAN STATISTICAL AREA
Franklin Jefferson Lincoln St. Charles St.
Louis Warren
Clinton Jersey Madison Monroe St. Clair
8
LAND IN FARMS (acres)

• 2,213,337
• ACRES

Land in farms is defined as all land operated by
farms during the year. It includes crop and
livestock acreage, wasteland, woodland, pasture,
land in summer fallow, idle cropland, and land
enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and
other set aside or commodity acreage
programs. Source 11 County (IL MO) TOTAL.
2002 Census of Agriculture, USDA-NASS
9
NUMBER OF FARMS IN THE BI-STATE

• 9,365
• 248 Acres (avg. size of farm)

A farm is defined as any establishment from which
1,000 or more of agricultural products were sold
or would normally be sold during the year. An
operation with one or more horses, Christmas tree
farms and farms that were wholly enrolled in the
Conservation Reserve Program were included in the
Census farm count. Two new industries, maple
syrup and short rotation woody crop farms, were
also added. Source 11 County (IL MO) TOTAL.
2002 Census of Agriculture, USDA-NASS
10
RIVER TRANSPORTATION

• More than 75 percent of U.S. soybean exports move
  to world ports via the Upper Mississippi and
  Illinois River systems.

• Barge movement on
• the Mississippi River
• Corn 29,898 TONS
• Soybeans 9,146 TONS

Source 2002 Soybean Expansion Program,
American Soybean Association YTD
(year-to-date) and calendar year total includes
Miss/27, Ohio/52, and Ark/1. Source U.S. Army
Corp of Engineers (www.mvr.usace.army.mil/mvrimi/o
mni/webrpts/default.asp)
11
MARKET VALUE OF . . .

• Agricultural Products Sold
• Crops
• Livestock, Poultry and Their Products

• 542,209,000
• 329,204,000
• 213,005,000

1,000 or more
Source 11 County (IL MO) TOTAL. 2002 Census
of Agriculture, USDA-NASS Also includes the sum
of values for commodities withheld in county
statistics to avoid disclosing data for
individual farms
12
VALUE OF AG COMMODITIES IN THE BI-STATE AREA
(millions)
11.0
(horses, sheep, goats, Christmas trees, organic,
misc. crops)
44.0
Hogs
542 Million Total
Soybeans
70.0
13
TOTAL AGRIBUSINESS OUPUT

• 23 BILLION
• 12 of the total economic output for the bi-state
  area

Sources 2002 Ag Census, 1997 Economic Census,
Individual Corporations, St. Louis Regional
Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA)
14
OUTPUT BY SEGMENT
Sources 2002 Ag Census, 1997 Economic Census,
Individual Corporations, St. Louis Regional
Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA)
15
NOT ACCOUNTED FOR ON THE STUDY WERE

• Ag Service Companies such as
• Advertising
• Communications
• Law
• Accounting
• Finances
• Real estate

16
AGRICULTURALSERVICE COMPANIES
Employment Projected to Increase 35 Percent by
2008 Compared to 1998
Were Ranked 12 out of the Top 20 Fastest Growing
industries
Source St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth
Association (RCGA)
17
AGRIBUSINESS MEANS JOBS FOR THE BI-STATE
Principal Farm Operators 13,713 Hired Farm
Labor 6,734 Total on Farm
Employment 20,447 (RIMS II Multiplier 16.1548)

• 330,317 JOBS
• 20 of workforce

Sources 2002 Ag Census and U.S. Department of
Commerce
18
THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRIBUSINESS TO THE BI-STATE
ECONOMY

• Prepared by the St. Louis Agribusiness Club
• October, 2004