Title
Receive a presentation from the Agriculture Commissioners Office regarding the Agriculture Economic Report.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Economic Development Committee:
Receive a presentation from the Agriculture Commissioners Office regarding the Agriculture Economic Report.
SUMMARY:
The Economic Contributions of Monterey County Agriculture Report takes an important step beyond the County of Monterey Crop & Livestock Report that has been published every year since 1929. Instead of stopping at crop production values and acreage, it quantifies agriculture’s total economic contributions through production, local processing, employment and economic multiplier effects. This new study shows that in 2023, the latest year for which there is complete data, agriculture contributed a total of $11.706 billion to the county economy. This far exceeds the $4.353 billion value from the 2023 County of Monterey Crop & Livestock Report. Agriculture production and processing also directly supported 56,365 employees, plus another 24,951 from multiplier effects. Agriculture ranked #1 among county industries for direct economic output, as well as for direct employment.
DISCUSSION:
In 2012, 2015 and 2020, research reports were produced that examined not just agricultural production values, but also agriculture’s wider economic contributions through local food processing, employment and multiplier effects. Those documents generated tremendous positive responses, providing detailed assessments of agriculture’s role in sustaining a healthy local economy. This Economic Contributions of Monterey County Agriculture Report updates and expands upon those original reports.
Consistent with the previous studies, multiple data sources were used and advanced economic modeling techniques to analyze agriculture’s total contribution to the Monterey County economy. Economic diversification within agriculture was measured, which has implications for economic resilience. Ov...
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