Oregon’s Agriculture Sector
September 5, 2024Agriculture is the longest-standing industry to exist in Oregon. In fact, long before America’s westward expansion in the 19th century and even before Lewis and Clark’s famous expedition that led them to the Oregon territory, Native Americans in the area already had an agriculture industry at work that included hunting, trapping, harvesting, and preserving food. On Lewis and Clark’s expedition, they documented the plants growing in the region and also wrote about the agricultural practices of the Native Americans in the area.
The way the industry appeared in the early 1800s would have been almost unrecognizable compared with what the industry has evolved to more than 200 years later in what is now the state of Oregon. As Oregon grew as a territory, later becoming the 33rd state to join the Union, agriculture was a vital part of the economy.
Recent Employment
In 2023, the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector employed almost 52,300 in Oregon, down slightly from the all-time high of 52,786 in 2021. From 2019 to 2023 the sector’s job growth has been fairly flat, shedding a little more than 400 jobs during those five years and shrinking 0.8%.
Within the sector, there have been larger employment changes. Crop production shed the most employment, losing more than 1,000 jobs or -3.7% from 2019 to 2023. Animal production employment declined 77 or -2% over the five-year period. Oregon’s forestry and logging employment declined more than 600 or -11% from 2019 to 2023.
Offsetting many of the losses in crop production and forestry employment in recent years, support activities for both crop production and forestry have shown strong job growth in recent years. A good example in Oregon of the types of firms in this industry would be firms that provide vineyard cultivation services.
Support activities for crop production added nearly 500 jobs from 2019 to 2023, growing 5%. Support activities for forestry added nearly 800 jobs, growing 18% over that time.
Oregon Outpaced by Nation
Oregon’s agriculture sector has grown slower than the industry nationally, in terms of its output, as measured by its contribution to Oregon’s gross domestic product (GDP). In particular, during the Great Recession the nation significantly outpaced Oregon’s agriculture sector. Prior to 2007, Oregon was trending fairly close to the nation. Oregon’s agriculture sector, in particular nurseries and grass seed farmers, were hard hit by the national slowdown in housing during the Great Recession. From 2006 to 2010 Oregon’s output in agriculture shrank 26%. Since 2010, Oregon’s GDP in agriculture has been trending upward. In 2022, Oregon’s output within agriculture was 102% higher than it was in 1997. Nationally, the industry’s output was 132% above its 1997 level.
An Older and Younger Male-Dominated Workforce
In 2023, 24% of Oregon’s private-sector workforce was age 55 or older. Oregon’s workforce within agriculture is older; 33% of its workforce was age 55 or older. Workers ages 65 and older comprise 16% of Oregon’s agriculture workers compared with 8% for Oregon’s private sector as a whole. On the other end of the age spectrum, agriculture employs a number of young workers who are entering the workforce. Nearly 3% of Oregon’s agriculture workers are age 14 to 18; that is similar for Oregon’s private sector as a whole.
With older workers and very young workers comprising a larger share of agriculture’s workforce, middle-aged workers are underrepresented in the industry. Workers in the 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 age groups are the most underrepresented.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the workers in Oregon’s agriculture industry are men. Across all industries in Oregon’s private sector, men comprised 53% of the workforce.
Occupations and Wages in Agriculture
In 2023, the average annual wage within agriculture was $45,470. Oregon’s private-sector average annual wage across all industries was $67,207 in 2023. Agriculture employment is heavily concentrated in one low-wage occupation. Farmworkers and laborers for crops and nurseries is by far the largest occupation within the industry, representing nearly 42% of the industry’s employment. The table shows the 10 largest occupations within Oregon’s agriculture industry, along with the average wage for those occupations (across all industries). The average annual wage for farmworkers is slightly less than $36,019 per year. Having 42% of the industry’s workforce in a fairly low paying occupation explains a big piece of the low average wage within the industry.
Although there are many different occupations within agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, the majority of employment is concentrated within a small number of occupations. In fact, the 10 largest occupations comprise two-thirds (65%) of the industry’s total employment.
Outlook
Oregon’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector employment is projected to grow from 2022 to 2032. The 2022 to 2032 industry projections from the Oregon Employment Department project the industry will add 3,400 jobs over that period, growing 6% and slower than Oregon’s total employment, which is expected to grow 10% over that time. Over the past decade Oregon’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting employment grew 3,019 or 6% from 2013 to 2023. Oregon’s total employment grew 18% from 2013 to 2023.
The agriculture sector acted as a vital part of Oregon’s economy long before Oregon’s statehood was granted in 1859. That doesn’t appear to be a trend that will be changing any time soon.