Study: Yuma still ag leader; industry contributes $1.1B to local GDP
Yuma is to agriculture as Napa is to wine, Detroit is to cars and Silicon Valley is to computer technology.
It’s no surprise to locals, but now a study has confirmed it. Or rather, reconfirmed it.
Ashley Kerna Bickel, an economic impact analyst with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, presented the results of the study, titled “Arizona Leafy Greens: Economic Contributions of the Industry Cluster — 2015 Economic Contribution Analysis,” released in the fall.
The presentation from the Tucson-based Bickel was part of Yuma Area Agricultural Council’s Agriculture Grows Yuma Tour, which began Thursday evening with a reception and dinner. Among the findings: • Yuma is a national leader in the production of many agricultural commodities, in particular leafy greens such as lettuce but also vegetables and melons and other small grain crops.
• Yuma plays a critical role in the year-round supply of lettuce for domestic consumption.
• At the most productive point in the season, Arizona — in particular Yuma County — shipped an average of 82 percent of the nation’s lettuce
• Yuma accounts for a large majority of Arizona’s crop cash receipts.
• Agriculture is a major driver of the Yuma economy.
• Crop, livestock and ag support service industries employ 63 times the national average.
• Agriculture and support industries is the leading private industry, contributing $1.1 billion to Yuma’s gross domestic product, or the monetary value of all finished goods and services produced within a region’s borders, usually called “value added.”
Bickel noted that Yuma County ranks second nationally for harvested acreage for lettuce (69,748 acres) and spinach (7,160).
Yuma County produces a large majority of Arizona’s leafy greens: 97 percent of the state’s harvested acreage of lettuce and
95 percent of the state’s harvested acreage of spinach.
But it’s not just about leafy greens. Yuma County ranks second nationally for value of vegetable and melon sales. It’s in the top 0.1 percent of all U.S. counties producing vegetables and melons.
And Yuma County ranks highly in wheat acreage, producing 48.5 percent of Arizona’s wheat.
In addition, Yuma leads Arizona counties in crop cash receipts. Yuma crop sales are about the same as the next five counties combined.
The study also analyzed Yuma County’s location quotients, which measure the percentage of people employed in an industry locally compared to the percentage of people employed in that industry nationally. LQs can identify national centers of certain types of production. For example, Napa wine wholesalers have an LQ of 13.33; Silicon Valley computer and electronic product manufacturing has an LQ of 13.36; and Detroit’s motor vehicle manufacturing has an LQ of 16.29.
In comparison, Yuma’s agricultural support activities have a whopping LQ of 63.02 and its crop production an LQ of 12.83. That means that the percentage of Yuma jobs that are agricultural support jobs is 63 times the national average and the percentage of Yuma jobs that are crop production jobs is almost 13 times the national average.
The total Yuma GPD in 2015 was about $6.2 billion, with private industries making up $4.4 billion of that and government $1.8 billion.
Agriculture and ag support contributed $1.1 billion to Yuma’s GPD and that’s not including straight values. This makes it the leading private industry in Yuma, higher than retail, healthcare, real estate, manufacturing and construction.
Find the complete study at https://cals.arizona. edu/arec/extension/economic-impact-analysis .
The Agriculture Grows Yuma Tour will continue Friday with Cory Mellon’s presentation “Technology and Agriculture’s Future” at 7 a.m. at the UA Yuma Ag Center, 6425 W. 8th St. The tour will continue at 8:30 a.m. at the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation with the presentation “Our Agriculture Water Infrastructure.”
At 12:30 p.m. Yuma County Supervisor Martin Porchas will address “Impact of Ag on Community Growth” at La Cocina/ YRBH Complex in Somer- ton.