The Contribution of Agricultural, Forestry, and Fisheries Production to the US and Iowa Economies

Abstract

In a recent report, USDA’s Economic Research Service summarizes the prevalence of agricultural and food sectors in the United States economy (USDA ERS 2024a). USDA finds that the $1.4 trillion spent in all agricultural, food, forestry, and related industries was about 5.5% of US gross do­­­­­­­­­­­­mestic product (GDP). In their analysis, USDA includes all agricultural and forestry production, food and beverage manufacturing and processing, food retailing, food service, and fishing, as well as textiles, apparel, and leather production. According to the report, US households spent approximately 13% of their 2022 consumption on food—only transportation and housing expenditures ranked higher. USDA reports that the agricultural, food, forestry, and related industries contributed about 1% to 2022’s US GDP and directly created about 3.6 million jobs.

In this article, I focus only on the initial production portions of the “agricultural, food, forestry, and related industries” in the supply chain in order to ask what the impact is on the US economy from not just the direct spending but also indirect and induced effects that impact other industries. First, I need to define what I mean by the initial production portions of that industry.