Gov. Kaine's Press Release
The Agriculture and Forestry Economic Impact Study

From Executive Summary:

- The total economic impact of agriculture and forestry-related industries in Virginia was almost $79 billion in total industry output in 2006, the base year for this study. The total employment impact is approximately 501,500 jobs, which makes up 10.3 percent of state employment.
- Every job created in agriculture and forestry related industries results in another 1.5 jobs in the Virginia economy. Every dollar generated in value-added results in another $1.75 value-added in the Virginia economy.
- The impacts of agriculture and forestry are felt in other sectors of the economy. The largest effects are in the directly affected manufacturing and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries. However, agriculture and forestry stimulate large public and private services responses through the effects of industry purchases and subsequent rounds of indirect and induced spending. The effects reverberate throughout the economy affecting every sector.
- There are notable regional differences in the sizes of agriculture and forestry related industries. The largest direct employment impact is in Northern Virginia (which in this case is defined to include the northern parts of the Shenandoah Valley as well as the more metropolitan areas around Washington, D.C.), and the largest total impact is observed in Central Virginia. Impacts as a percentage of estimated total employment range from a low of approximately 5 percent of total employment in Northern Virginia to nearly one in four employees in the Southern district centered on Danville, which is heavily dependent on forest products industries.
- Although this study did not examine the full effects of agritourism and forest-related recreation, such as wildlife recreation, horse events, wine tourism, and agricultural festivals, results from other Virginia studies suggest that the impacts on output may amount to several billions of dollars.
- Agriculture and forestry activities have significant societal and ecological effects in addition to their economic benefits. Forests provide benefits in the form of carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, flood mitigation and improved water quality. Rural scenic amenities may also improve quality of life.
- The impact results provided in this study are not comparable to previously published results based on earlier studies because of differences in agriculture and forestry-related sector definitions, input data, and model characteristics.

Read the Entire Study