Page 22 - Rural Tourism Report Washington County

CHAPTER 2: THE WASHINGTON COUNTY AGRICULTURE SECTOR

Historical Profile of Farms by Value of Gross Sales Outlook
Farms may be categorized by annual gross sales. Figure 2.5 shows

there is a wide range of yearly gross sales values among farms in While prices have fluctuated
Washington County, from those earning only $1,000 per year, to those and increases in many com-
that make more than $500,000 per year. modities have moderated in
2013 and 2014, the trend of

In 2012, farms with annual sales of $50,000 and above constituted 12.8 increasing sales can be ex-
percent of the farm inventory, farms with annual sales from $20,000 pected to continue, according
to $49,000 constituted 9.8 percent of the farm inventory, farms with to the Oregon State University
annual sales from $1,000 to $19,999 constituted half – 49.9 percent – Rural Studies Department:
of the farm inventory, and “hobby farms” that earn less than $1,000 in • A continuation of recent
annual sales constituted 22 percent of the inventory. All sizes of farms productivity growth
are important to the success of local and state agriculture, however, trends could allow the
according to Oregon Director of Agriculture Katy Coba. agricultural sector to

respond to increased
Figure 2.5: Number of Farms by Value of Gross Sales. 2002-2012 demand with little ad-
1900 ditional use of land and
1761 other agricultural inputs,
1643 but a slowdown in pro-
ductivity growth could
result in high agricul-

tural commodity prices
and additional environ-
mental stress.
• As global population and

incomes increase over
the next four decades,
demand for agricultural
commodities is also
expected to increase.

• Growth in agricultural
productivity will deter-
mine how agricultural
input, output, and land

Source: NASS Census of Agriculture 2002–2012. NASS changed how they gathered data on Value markets will adjust to
of Gross Sales between the 1997 and 2002 Census of Agriculture. As such, comparable data is not increased demand.
available prior to 2002.

18 WASHINGTON COUNTY RURAL TOURISM STUDY