(Des Moines)– A new study shows agriculture supports one in four jobs in Iowa. Ben Murrey of Common Sense Institute Iowa says the research also shows the ag economy is responsible for one-third of the gross domestic product in the state…
“Over the next five years according to our modeling, agriculture will contribute directly and indirectly in induced effects to $1.2 trillion in economic output in the state of Iowa.”
Murrey says a new study is a deep dive into how some sectors, such as manufacturing and trade, depend on Iowa agriculture…
“Chemical manufacturing that goes into fertilizers for crops, that’s not filed in the federal data under agriculture. It’s filed under manufacturing. When we looked at that data across all industries, that led us to our final number where we said well, there’s far more jobs and GDP contribution supported by agriculture in Iowa.”
Murrey says the state’s economic growth depends on agriculture…
“In one quarter we were first in the nation when agriculture was doing well. But when agriculture trailed by more than one percentage point in the rest of the economy, then Iowa ranked 39th or worse in the country for economic growth.”
CSI estimates ag supports roughly 534-thousand jobs in the state this year.
(Courtesy TTWN)
