Revenue for cattle and calves approximates $1 billion, displacing greenhouse and nursery products for the first time in two decades.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Revenue for cattle and calves in 2014 approximated $1 billion, displacing greenhouse and nursery products for the first time in two decades.
In total, agriculture production accounted for $5.4 billion to the Oregon economy.
There now are 34,600 farms in Oregon, down slightly from the previous year, the data show. And the average size of farms has increased slightly, to 474 acres. The value of cattle and calf production increased dramatically, by about 38 percent over 2013. Part of the reason for that is the drought, Jerome Rosa, executive director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said.
“There just really wasn’t enough feed out there, especially on public lands,” Rosa said.
(SOURCE: Statesman Journal)
The top-10 Oregon agricultural products, (economic impact in parentheses):
- Cattle ($922 million)
- Greenhouse and nursery ($830 million)
- Hay ($703 million)
- Milk ($656 million)
- Grass seed ($449 million)
- Wheat ($302 million)
- Potatoes ($164 million)
- Hazelnuts ($129 million)
- Pears ($127 million)
- Wine grapes ($118 million)
Severe drought conditions throughout Oregon might hurt 2015’s numbers. ODA experts are predicting that the lack of water and high temperatures might hurt some crops’ chance to perform as well as they would in better conditions. The Port of Portland’s container terminal also lost almost all its business in the beginning of the year, which could affect farmers and ranchers’ ability to get products to customers overseas.
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
These numbers are from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.
