2012 PRESS RELEASES
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October 5, 2012
NEW STUDY SHOWS POULTRY INDUSTRY HAS ECONOMIC IMPACT IN VIRGINIA THAT EXCEEDS $8 BILLION
Contact: Elaine J. Lidholm, 804.786.7686
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced today a new study by the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association that finds the economic impact of the poultry industry in Virginia goes far beyond sales of chicken, turkey and eggs. It includes jobs, wages and other economic activity that total more than $8 billion.
A dynamic and integral part of Virginia’s economy, the poultry and egg industries provide 13,480 direct jobs and indirectly contribute to a total of 41,710 jobs. According to the study, Virginia’s poultry industry provides direct wages of $502,045,200 and indirectly results in wages totaling $2,029,839,900. Overall, poultry contributes $8,062,929,510 in economic activity in the Commonwealth. Virginia’s poultry industry and its employees also pay local, state and federal taxes totaling $827,630,400.
“In my job, I deal with the numbers of agricultural economics all the time,” said Todd P. Haymore, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, “but I seldom see numbers this impressive. Even more impressive, however, are the people behind the numbers, the family farmers who raise the chickens, hatch the eggs, grow the turkeys to market weight and provide the human component that makes the numbers possible.”
“This study shows how important poultry and eggs are to Virginia’s economy,” said Virginia Poultry Federation President Hobey Bauhan. “It also highlights the importance of maintaining and growing this agricultural sector for the role it plays in job creation, economic activity, government revenue and sustaining the livelihoods of family farms.”
The study, based on 2012 data, breaks down poultry into three subcategories: chicken, turkey and eggs. The data is hosted on interactive websites that can be viewed collectively or by individual product, and then sorted nationally, by state, congressional district, state house district or state senate district. For more information about the Virginia poultry industry’s economic impact, visit:
www.poultryfeedsamerica.org
www.chickenfeedsamerica.org
www.turkeyfeedsamerica.org
www.eggsfeedamerica.org
The economic impact study was funded by USPOULTRY. The study was conducted by John Dunham and Associates, based in New York City, and uses data from 2012. Click here for information on the study’s methodology and model description.
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