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Publication #FE791

 

Executive Summary: The Economic Impact of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Volusia County, Florida1

Rodney L. Clouser, Mohammad Rahmani, and David Mulkey2

The following is the executive summary of a report, The Economic Impact of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Volusia County, Florida. This EDIS publication provides the executive summary for the report. The complete report is available at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FE/fe79100.pdf.

This report provides a profile of agricultural and natural resource industries in Volusia County based on data from the IMPLAN Pro database for Florida counties in 2006. This data is supplemented from the 2002 Census of Agriculture and Volusia County Property Appraiser's Office. The IMPLAN software package and associated databases allow the estimation of multipliers to capture the total economic impact of agricultural and natural resource industries within the local economy.

For each reported measure (output, total output impacts, value-added and total value-added impacts, and exports), the figures reported include the direct output of the agricultural sector in question, the impacts associated with indirect inter-industry purchases of inputs by agriculture and its supplying industries, and the induced impacts of spending by employees and owners of agricultural and supplying industries. More information on IMPLAN can be obtained from the publication, "Using IMPLAN to Assess Local Economic Impacts," online at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe168. Impacts are reported for the following agriculture and natural resource industry groups: agricultural inputs and services, environmental horticulture, forestry, fruit and vegetables, grain and oilseed, livestock and dairy, mining, food product manufacturing, sugarcane and tobacco farming, and wildlife. All impacts are reported in 2007 U.S. dollars.

The agriculture and natural resource based industry group is a large and diverse component of the Volusia County economy. The total output impacts for agriculture and natural resource industries in Volusia County were estimated at $781 million. Nursery and greenhouse and landscape services showed as the largest sector, contributing more than $318 million in total output impacts, and accounting for more than 41 percent of total output impact in the county from agriculture and natural resource industries. The fruit and vegetable farming and processing industry with $111 million in output impacts registered as the second highest agriculture and natural resource industry in the county. Mining with $106 million in output impacts and the livestock and dairy farming and animal products manufacturing industry with $70 million in output impacts were also key contributors to the agriculture and natural resource sector.

This agriculture and natural resource industry economic activity is generated from less than 1 percent of the county's population. The industry accounts for approximately 30 percent of the land ownership and use (between 229,000 and 251,000 acres) in Volusia County. Property taxes from this land generate between $4.8 million and $5.1 million in tax revenue each year. Additionally, land use generates other benefits such as water recharge, wildlife habitat, open space, locally grown food products, and scenic beauty. Furthermore, the agriculture and natural resource sector generates employment (direct, indirect, and induced) of over 8,300 jobs. The agriculture and natural resource sector also generates more than 5.5 percent of export value of all Volusia County economic sectors. The implication of this export activity is that the Volusia County agriculture and natural resource industry serves local, regional, and national markets.

Without the contributions of the agriculture and natural resource sectors in Volusia County, a "major hole" would need to be filled in the county's economy and land use. In summary, Volusia County's agriculture and natural resource industry contributes significantly to the county in four areas:

  1. Contributions to the local economy (direct, indirect, and induced industry output)

  2. Economic diversity, entrepreneurship, and employment

  3. Land base for future growth in the county

  4. Environmental and other benefits

Footnotes

1.

This document is FE791, one of a series of the Food and Resource Economics Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date January 2009. Reviewed August 2012. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Rodney L. Clouser, professor and Extension public policy specialist; Mohammad Rahmani, coordinator of economic analysis, and David Mulkey, professor, Food and Resource Economics Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.