For the second straight year, North Carolina’s agriculture and agribusiness industry has recorded strong growth, jumping to $111.1 billion in economic impact. Agriculture continues to power our state’s economy.    

• We got some pretty exciting news recently about the growth of North Carolina’s agriculture industry, which we have not had the chance to talk about.
  
• You know I am not going to miss an opportunity to celebrate our farmers, our agribusiness owners and everyone employed in agriculture.

• For the second straight year, the industry posted strong growth, pushing the economic impact of agriculture and agribusiness to $111.1 billion, and retaining its place as the top industry in the state.

• That’s $8 billion more than our 2023 numbers for a total of $18 billion in economic growth in the past two years.  

• And it is nearly double its impact since I took office in 2005.
  
• Dr. Mike Walden, economist at N.C. State University, calculated the economic numbers using 2022 data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

• In updating the number, Dr. Walden noted that the industry continues to employ 16% of the state’s workforce.

• That’s over 777,600 people employed in agriculture or agribusiness out of the state’s 4.8 million workforce.

• That’s a lot of jobs.

• And when you factor in where we rank in the production of many commodities, it’s not difficult to see how we get to that number.

• Our state ranks No. 1 in the production of sweet potatoes, tobacco, and poultry and eggs.

• We are second in Christmas trees, turkeys and trout.

• We are third in hogs and cucumbers. Fourth in peanuts and broilers and fifth in cotton.

• It’s exciting to see numbers like these because it shows the strength and resiliency of agriculture and agribusiness in the state, especially considering that we were coming out of a pandemic and some challenging economic times.

• This growth is also a result of:
  •  our continued investment in agricultural research,
  • our continued efforts to expand and attract new food manufacturing and to create more value-added opportunities,
  • and the continued support of our legislators.
    
• These are important investments along with investing in the preservation of farmland and it is good seeing the return those investments are having in our state.