Agriculture in Southwest Florida
Economic Importance of Agriculture to Southwest Florida
Five Major Commodity Groups:
- Citrus
- Fresh-Market Vegetables
- Sugarcane
- Beef Cattle (cow-calf)
- Ornamental Landscape Plants
Direct farm sales in 2007: $1.04 Billion
Total Economic Impact (1.57 multiplier): $1.6 Billion
Economic Multiplier: 1.57- translating total farm sales into a $1.6 Billion of total
economic impact for Southwest Florida.
Definition of economic impacts – 3 categories:
- Direct: sales that are directly attributable to farming operation. (Ex. Boxes of
oranges, cartons of tomatoes, tons of sugarcane, or hundred weight of calves.)
- Indirect: sales that result from companies that sell to agricultural operations
(ex. Fertilizer & chemical sales, insurance brokers, farm bankers, equipment dealers.)
- Induced: sales or income that result from retail establishments where farmers, their
employees, and the employees of allied businesses spend their income on consumer
goods (ex. TV’s, boats, cars, clothes, entertainment activities, etc.)
- Total Economic Impact: Direct + Indirect + Induced
- Multiplier: convenient way to summarize total impacts. A multiplier of 1.57 means
that for every $1 of direct farm sales, allied companies and retail establishments
generate another 57 cents.