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Despite a downturn in the economy, Hillsborough County reports an increase in agriculture sales estimates for 2007.
Data from the Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension Service and the Hillsborough County Agriculture Industry Development Program estimate the 2007 sales of Hillsborough County agriculture products are $845,828,174, an increase of 10.8 percent from 2006. The total land area devoted to agriculture is estimated to be 241,199 acres.
The crop with the highest sales in Hillsborough County continues to be strawberries ($343,275,000), representing 40.6
percent of the total County agricultural sales value.
Ornamental plants rank second ($207,575,011), with 24.5 percent of the County’s agricultural sales.
Vegetable production is third ($115,000,000), accounting for 13.6 percent of annual sales.
This year, citrus is fourth ($34,358,720), with 4.1 percent of annual sales.
Aquaculture is fifth ($33,685,700), with 4 percent of annual sales.
These five commodities together generate 87 percent of the agricultural sales in the County, using only 17 percent of the total land area devoted to agriculture.
Trends over the past several years indicate that although the amount of farmland is decreasing, the value of crops produced has increased. For instance, since 1997, the amount of farmland has decreased almost 9 percent, while the value of production has increased 71 percent.
Most of the loss in farmland during this period has come from low-value-per-acre production activities - forestry and beef cattle/pasture - while gains were made in high-value-per-acre commodities - ornamental plants, strawberries, aquaculture, sod, blueberries and vegetable production.
The end result is that the average sales-per-acre have increased since 1997. More significant to Hillsborough County is the total economic impact that agricultural sales generate, by supporting related businesses such as banking, real estate, legal services, transportation, packaging, equipment, seed, agricultural suppliers and services, and marketing firms.
According to a 2005 study completed on behalf of the Hillsborough County Agriculture Industry Development Program, the total economic impact of agricultural production and the businesses that support the industry is $1.4 billion, providing 20,100 jobs with $293 million in annual earnings.
These estimates show that agriculture is a viable industry in Hillsborough County, and that agriculture remains a very important component of the local economy and community.
For more information, contact Stephen Gran, Hillsborough County Agriculture Industry Development
Program at (813) 272-5506. |
