A new report released this week paints a clearer picture of the crucial role agriculture plays as the economic backbone of Merced County.
The report, titled “Economic Contributions of Merced County Agriculture,” uses data from 2023, the most recent information for which numbers exist. It’s not to be confused with the county’s annual agriculture report, which provides an overview of crop production values and acreage.
The report quantifies Merced County agriculture’s total economic contributions through production, local processing, employment and economic multiplier effects.
Economic multiplier effects include indirect business to business spending plus consumer spending by local ag employees.
The ag industry in 2023 contributed a total of $9.930 billion to Merced County’s economy.
That includes $4.22 billion grossed from farm production, with milk at the top of the list of commodities, according to Fernando de Paolis, one of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies professors who worked on the report.
The ag industry also generates $2.82 billion from local processing, with dairy and animal products the main contributors and $2.89 billion from multiplier effects.
“Those figures are imposing by any comparison or any measure,” de Paolis told the Board of Supervisors during a presentation Tuesday.
The figures represent how Merced County is the fifth-largest agricultural producing county in the nation, Sean Runyon, Merced County ag commissioner, told the board.
“I hope this report will assist you and become another tool for you in your important work as you consider issues such as the development of Castle’s inland port, SGMA related water issues and land use planning,” Runyon said.
“I also hope that you can use it to inform other policy makers of the importance of our agriculture not just to our county but to the entire state and nation.”
Sector employs tens of thousands of people
The ag industry was responsible for 38,800 jobs in 2023, which includes 22,862 direct jobs and 15,938 jobs created through multiplier effects.
That makes it the top industry employer in Merced County, followed by government (18,292 jobs), health and social services (12,325), retail trade (9,667) and accommodation and food services (8,192).
Agriculture was the No. 1 sector in Merced County in terms of output ($7.042 billion), with manufacturing in second place ($3.134 billion), government in third place ($2.290 billion), real estate and rentals in fourth place ($2.259 billion) and health and human services in fifth place ($1.335 billion), according to Jeff Langholz, another professor who worked on the report.