Ag production and food manufacturing
The figures are included in a report prepared for the South Dakota Department of Agriculture by Decision Innovation Solutions with assistance from South Dakota State University and the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Ag Department officials released the report Oct. 1.
The report also provides a breakdown on ag production and food manufacturing, and from those figures, it’s clear that it’s mainly in ag production where the Dakotas lead the country.
In ag production, South Dakota is again second to North Dakota. The sister states are the only states in the nation with greater than 10 percent of gross state product coming from ag production, with 10.61 percent in North Dakota and 10.49 percent in South Dakota.
The states rank much lower in food manufacturing. North Dakota derived 1.52 percent of its gross state product from food manufacturing – 19th in the nation – while South Dakota ranked 22nd in the nation, with 1.41 percent.
The top states were first-place North Carolina, where 4.30 percent of gross state product came from food manufacturing, followed by Iowa, with 4.24 percent; Kentucky, with 3.73 percent; Virginia, with 3.70 percent; and Nebraska, with 3.37 percent.