Growing economy

Chico State’s Agribusiness Institute recently released a report on the economic contributions of agriculture to the 13 counties in northeastern California in 2013, the second installment in a three-year study. The study found that the ag industry is directly or indirectly responsible for an estimated 60,157 jobs in the region (16.3 percent of total employment and 20 percent of private-sector employment). The total value of this labor is $2.9 million (17 percent of all labor in the region), and the total value added to the regional economy by ag equals $4.8 billion, or 16.9 percent. Statewide, agriculture accounted for $144 billion in total added value—roughly 6.8 percent of the state’s total—indicating ag has a much greater impact in the North State than elsewhere.