About Oregon Agriculture
Oregon Ag & the Economy
- Oregon is a specialty crop state with more than 220 recognized commodities.
- Oregon’s agriculture industry accounts for nearly $18 billion in direct sales and $25.8 billion in overall sales, accounting for 10.6% of the state’s total sales, according to a 2008 OSU study.
- Oregon’s agriculture industry directly or indirectly supports about 214,500 full- or part-time jobs in production, processing, transportation, input industries, and marketing, making up 10.1% of total positions in the state, according to a 2008 OSU study.
- Oregon’s farmers spend nearly $3.4 billion a year to run their businesses and are vital to the survival of Oregon’s rural and urban communities.
Labor: Agriculture employs nearly 214,500 workers in production, processing, transportation, input industries, and marketing. Labor is the largest single cost to Oregon’s agricultural producers, consuming more than $700 million of the more than $3 billion in input costs per year.
Land: Nearly 43% of Oregon’s land is in private ownership with the large majority of the remainder under federal control. Oregon farms and ranches occupy about 17.1 million acres – or 28% of the land in the state. 55% of the agricultural lands are used for range and pasture, 11% is timber, and 20% is cropland. Almost half of Oregon’s cropland is irrigated.
Trade: About 80% of Oregon’s agricultural production leaves the state, with more than 60% leaving the country. Most of Oregon’s ag exports go to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, The Philippines, Canada, and Europe. Japan consumes the same dollar value of the state’s agriculture products as Oregonians do. Nearly 40% of U.S. grain exports come through the Port of Portland, the nation’s largest grain-exporting port and third largest in the world.
To learn more about Oregon ag, the value ranking of top commodities, and a list of commodities for which Oregon is the Number 1 producer, visit the following site for Oregon Dept. of Ag's current "Facts and Figures" brochure:
http://oregon.gov/ODA/docs/pdf/pubs/ff.pdf
For more Oregon ag stats from the USDA Economic Research Service, visit this site: http://www.ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/OR.htm
Another great resource is “The State of Oregon Agriculture,” a biannual report submitted to the Governor by the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture: State of Oregon Agriculture report
For more Oregon agriculture statistics, visit this site: http://www.oregon.gov/ODA/statistics.shtml
Or visit the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture's home page at: http://oregon.gov/ODA/
To track the reach of the U.S. ag industry nationwide, check out the Ag Council of America’s "Food/Fiber/Biofuel Chain" poster. The poster shows all of the industries involved in the production, processing, and distribution of feeding, clothing and fueling the American consumer. In total, 21 million people in the U.S. are now employed to support the 301 million consumers in the country.
View poster
Oregon Farm Bureau’s Links page also has a great list of other website resources: http://www.oregonfb.org/links/
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