Posted September 28, 201014 yr Some gee-whiz numbers from the 2007 Census of Agriculture, which is chock-full of interesting stats on agriculture in Ohio. The Dayton Region apparently is a major ag center for the state, something that is perhaps overlooked. So lets put some numbers on those "blank spaces" between the citys and towns. Defining the Dayton Region For the purpose of this post set, the Dayton region is: The Dayton & Springfield MSA counties: Montgomery Preble Miami Green Clark ...and the counties north towards Lima and Indian & Grand Lakes: Darke Shelby Champagne Logan Auglaize Mercer (since they seem to have traditionally had social and economic and media connections to Dayton) Cash Value The big number. Two types of cash value of farm products (for 2007): Crops: $869.4 Million: 21.15% of the state total Livestock & Poultry: $1.2 billion(!), 39.7% of the state total Together these account for 28.6% of the cash value of Ohio ag production. A whopping $2 billion (rounded). The top counties for cash value: Darke: $479.8M Mercer: $535.2M Miami: $175.4M Auglaize: $138.6M Clark: $137M (which is a suprise since this is "Sprinfield & Vicinity", an urbanized county) Production Expenses Cash Value is nice big number, but there are production expenses: feed, fertilizer, operating costs, etc. This comes up to $1.5 Billion for the Dayton region. This presumably represents quite a market for ag suppliers of various sorts. The top production expense counties are, not suprisingly, the top ones for cash value: Mercer: $409.8 M Darke: $343.2 M Clark: $145.3 M Auglaize: $104.5 M Preble: $95.1 M (unexpected since the cash value of production is not in the top five counties). Offsetting this are Federal Government transfer payments of various sorts: crop subsidies and crop insurance payments. This accounts for $40.3 M for the region for 2007. Net Farm Income After expenses of various sorts there is the net farm income. This amounts to $561.3 M for the region. The top net income counties are: Darke: $149.9 M Mercer: $136.9 M Shelby: $44.4M Auglaize: $42.9M Clark: $36.3M Next, a quick look at farm operators and employment.
September 28, 201014 yr Impressive work! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 30, 201014 yr Thanks! Seems like this ag economy is under-appreciated. Mercer and Darke Counties seem to be big farm economy powerehouses.
September 30, 201014 yr Who would've thought... "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 30, 201014 yr Mercer and Darke are No. 1 and 2 in the state, and livestock/poultry (eggs) are the big reason. Wayne County is a distant No. 3, also with a mix of livestock (mostly dairy and beef) and row crops. There's another big factor in the ag economy: processing. The $133 million in Holmes County cash value for farm products, for example, is BC. What is BC? Before Cheese! When the milk is processed into cheese, it is worth a lot more, and creates jobs. Ohioans spend $43 billion a year on food (at home and restaurants -- doesn't include institutional meals), and an estimated 3 percent of that is grown and processed locally. Local Food is a great economic development strategy.
September 30, 201014 yr There are a lot of big well off German families in Mercer and Darke counties. I'd be curious to compare this w/ Toledo which also has a pretty nice ag hinterland (more veggies I'd guess).
October 1, 201014 yr Behind No. 1 and No. 2 Mercer and Darke, here's the NW Ohio top ag-county rundown, based on 2007 farm receipts: Hardin #4; Paulding #6; Putnam #7; Auglaize #8; Wyandot #11; Fulton #12; and Shelby #15.
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