RESOURCES
Minnesota Agri-Growth Council
Minnesota Food and Agriculture Facts
Production agriculture
- 80,992 farms in Minnesota
- 30,218 farm operators in Minnesota are women
- Minnesota farms generated $13.2 billion (market value) in agricultural products
- 53 percent in crops, vegetables, nursery crops and other related crops
- 47 percent in livestock, livestock products and poultry
- Minnesota is the seventh top agricultural producing state in the nation
Source: 2007 Census of Agriculture
The vast food and agriculture industry in Minnesota
- Home to seven Fortune 500 companies involved in food and agriculture
- Supervalu (No. 62)
- CHS (No. 145)
- General Mills (No. 214)
- Land O’Lakes (No. 294)
- Hormel Foods (No. 390)
- The Mosaic Company (No. 422)
- Ecolab (No. 438)
- Supports hundreds of companies, associations and organizations interconnected with the food and agriculture system, including:
- Financial institutions
- Farm supply co-ops
- Marketers
- Food processors
- Research and development
- Transportation
- Grocery stores
- Academic institutions
- Law firms
- Other connected industries
Sources: 2008 Fortune Magazine Fortune 1000 listing, Minnesota Agri-Growth Council membership
Food and agriculture: Employment in Minnesota
- 365,000 jobs, when considering the “multiplier effect” that agricultural production and processing supports
- 15 percent of jobs in Minnesota are in the food and agriculture industry
- 24 percent of rural jobs are in the food and agriculture industry
- 13 percent of metro jobs are in the food and agriculture industry
- 80 percent of the agriculture/food jobs are off-the-farm
Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture - The Foundation of Minnesota's Economy (2007)
Food and agriculture products: Global reach
- Second most exported goods from Minnesota, behind computers and electronics goods
- Accounts for 20 percent of state’s exports
- Minnesota grains and livestock products reach:
- Mexico
- Japan
- China
- Canada
- Korea
- Taiwan
- Other countries
- Seventh largest agricultural exporting state in the country
- Exports value $3.58 billion in 2007, equating to 4.4 percent of total U.S. agricultural exports
Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture - The Foundation of Minnesota's Economy (2007)
Updated: March 16, 2009