SO HOW IMPORTANT IS NEW MEXICO AGRICULTURE?

SO HOW IMPORTANT IS NEW MEXICO AGRICULTURE? Why you need to complete your Agriculture census information. I was at a state wide town hall meeting dealing with the New Mexico State wide water plan. I volunteered to work in a small group on improving our water supply, a difficult subject to say the least. In this group there were only a few agriculture producer or had ties to agriculture. The issue came up that Agriculture is the majority water right holder. That Agriculture should surrender it water for the growth of cities and “higher and best use”. I responded with a quote often said by Aron of PVACD. The most famous speech in American political history was delivered by William Jennings Bryan on July 9, 1896, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country.” Interesting enough this was in a great debate on the Gold or Silver standard and involved NM quest for state hood. I noted that some point we will have taken from Agriculture more then she has to give and we will destroy our self’s. The response from one very learned speculator in the water market was. “New Mexico Agriculture is nothing on the national scale”. So, is that true? What is agriculture contribution to the economy? The economy of the World, the Nation, our great State, and our local communities, how important is it? The 2016 Agriculture statistics were just released and based on the National Agriculture Statists Service New Mexico production was about $2.86 billion and the total value of Agriculture sector production valued at just over $3.22 billion. It should be noted from an economic view point most of New Mexico Agriculture products are exported out of state. When you export products out you import money in. Many Eddy County agriculture products are export around the world, Pecans, Cotton, Wool all go to China and off set our trade deficit there, Milk, goes to other states as well as to Mexico. Beef, and chili also have an export market as well as a domestic one. New Mexico sold to foreign markets well over $191 million just form Pecans. Milk is $162 million in sales to foreign markets. New Mexico produces more than 27% of the Pecans in the United States. Eddy County has 551 farms reporting and produces $119,564,000 in agriculture products down from 2007 when we produced a little over $270,000,000. Eddy County produces more than 10,000,000 pounds of Pecans most of which are exported. One very important fact that when considering economic impact to a local economy is multiplier effect. As money is expended in the state's or local area channels of business, it changes hands several times, this is the multiplier effect. Agriculture inputs (buys) from local suppliers, as does a lot of small business. The individuals and businesses (farms) receiving a payment (Agriculture exports products so import “new” money) return it to the income stream as payment of expenses. At this point, the all-important leakages emerge. When an individual or a business (farm) returns dollars to the income stream, they return part within the state or local community and part outside. The portion spent outside no longer creates more business or income within the state or local community. At this point the money is then exported out. Source NMSU publication Guide Z 108, “Income Multipliers in Economic Impact Analysis”. The NMSU study on multiplier effect in New Mexico indicate that Agriculture imported money has a 1.7 or better turnover. That state wide average is 1.4 and any industry trying to claim more than 2 is reaching and that information should be securitized and looked at closely. So a difference of 0.3 in the multiplier effect is a great increase. Just as a side note this study was completed and reviewed in 2011, when the internet and the on line shopping was less of an impact. I would speculate that since then the state wide multiplier effect average has been reduced. I could not find any recent data to indicate how much. Agriculture uses our abundant sunshine, soil and minerals and water to manufacture a product some of which is consumed domestically and some exported. When you eat, or where or use various products for shelter you are consuming that sunshine, soil and minerals and water as well as the sweat from the farmer. The local economy is benefited by the production of agriculture products. If you think about where your money comes from and where it goes to you will find Agriculture is a major player. How important those impacts are, depend on your perspective? On a world economic, on a national economic, on that state economic or our local economy Eddy County Agriculture is involved. If you take off the back of a gear driven watch and remove just one tooth of one gear, the rest of the teeth and gears are unable to complete their purpose. The watch will run for a short period of time until that one tooth is need. The byproduct of growing plants is recycling Carbon Di Oxide out of our environment and increasing Oxygen. Agriculture producers do that for free. In this discussion we did not touch on the subject of value added, changing a Agriculture product that is sold wholesale into a finished product that is sold retail. We have room for economic growth by doing this. Subscribe to Eddy County Ag news at: http://nmsueddyag.blogspot.com/ Eddy County Extension Service, New Mexico State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educator. All programs are available to everyone regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. New Mexico State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Eddy County Government Cooperating