The Economic Impact of Agriculture in Wisconsin Counties, by Steve Deller and David Williams, quantifies agriculture’s contribution to the state’s economy. The study reveals that on-farm production and food processing provide over 350,000 jobs in Wisconsin, or about 10% of jobs in the state.

The study goes a step further by estimating agriculture’s total employment impact for each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. The total impact is calculated by adding the number of people employed on farms and in food processing to the number of jobs created when farmers, food processors, and their employees spending money locally.  For example, in 2008, agriculture supported an estimated 54.2 percent of all jobs in Lafayette County.  Brown County provides the most agricultural jobs (21,037) despite being an urban county.

The complete report, including data for all Wisconsin counties is available at: http://www.aae.wisc.edu/pubs/misc/docs/deller.economic%20impacts.03.24.pdf