Agriculture remains vital to Iowa’s economy although its influence has lessened during the years, according to a new report that pulls together statistics about the economic role of agriculture in Iowa.

The most striking statistic takes into account the interdependence between agriculture and other industries, according to the report.

When combined, production agriculture, food manufacturing and other agriculture-affiliated industries account for 24.3 percent of Iowa’s total industrial output.

The report was prepared by David Swenson and Liesl Eathington, both assistant scientists in agricultural economics, at the request of the College of Agriculture.

Swenson said this means nearly a quarter of all the sale transactions that occurred in the state of Iowa happened because of agriculture.

Eathington said the percentage of total industrial output tracing back to agriculture was bigger than she anticipated. “[The report shows the] importance of the links between different sectors of Iowa’s economy,” she said. “[Many industries] might not be here had it not been for our agricultural heritage.”

Because researchers use a variety of methods to measure Iowa’s agricultural sector, the 20-page report presents a wide range of statistics.

“There’s just a lot of numbers that get thrown around about the size of agriculture in Iowa,” Eathington said.

She said the new report organizes existing data and presents a consistent set of numbers by measuring things such as agriculture’s contribution to the gross state product (GSP), the number of jobs in agriculture, the amount and kind of earnings generated in agriculture and the composition of agricultural sales.

For example, Iowa’s GSP was $89.6 billion in 2000, according to the report.

Together, farms, food and kindred product manufacturing and agricultural services contributed $7.24 billion, or 8.7 percent, of the GSP.

Food and kindred product manufacturing, which includes meat packing, dairy processing and cereal production, contributed 4.6 percent, while farms contributed 3.5 percent and agricultural services chipped in 0.7 percent.

Only in South Dakota, which had a GSP of 9.8 percent, did these industries supply a greater percentage of the GSP.

These results mean the Iowa economy is 3.7 times more dependent on agriculture as a component of its economy than the rest of the nation, according to the report.

The report also shows that the value of farm receipts fluctuated between 1971 and 2000. Farm receipts include money received from the sale of livestock and crops, as well as government payments and miscellaneous farm income, according to the report.

In 1971, the real value of farm receipts in 2000 dollars was more than $16 billion, according to the report.

Total farm receipts rose to $25 billion in 1973 and lingered near $20 billion through the early 1980s. Iowa’s total farm receipts in 2000 were just under $15 billion, signaling a lessened dependence on agriculture.

Swenson said while agriculture has seen a decline in importance, agriculture and related industries will continue to play a prominent role in Iowa’s economy.

This data helps to “validate the mission of the land grant institution,” he said.

Swenson said the College of Agriculture will use the report when communicating to various groups about the importance of agriculture in Iowa.

Brian Meyer, Agriculture Information Services program director, said the deans and faculty of the College of Agriculture will draw data from the report when speaking to business groups and community leaders around the state.

“People may not realize … what kind of impact [agriculture] does have on the economy,” Meyer said. Even if they do know, he said, “it’s good to remind them.”