Slow Growth in Oregon’s Agriculture Sector
September 16, 2025Agriculture 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 into 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 2024, the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector employed 52,924 individuals in Oregon, up slightly from the previous all-time high of 52,786 in 2021. From 2019 to 2024 the sector’s job growth was fairly flat, adding a little more than 200 jobs and growing 0.4%.
Within the sector, there have been larger employment changes. Crop production shed the most employment, losing roughly 1,000 jobs or -3.5% from 2019 to 2024. Animal production employment declined 23 or -0.6% over the six-year period. Oregon’s forestry and logging employment declined nearly 900 or -15% from 2019 to 2024.
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 400 jobs from 2019 to 2024, growing 4%. Support activities for forestry added more than 1,600 jobs, growing 37% 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 hit hard 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 2024, Oregon’s output within agriculture was 88% higher than it was in 1997. Nationally, the industry’s output was 129% above its 1997 level.
Oregon and the nation's agriculture GDP both showed strong growth from 2020 to 2022, particularly the nation. The three biggest reasons for this strong growth were strong global demand for agriculture exports, higher commodity prices, and government support programs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
An Older and Younger Male-Dominated Workforce
In 2024, 24% of Oregon’s private-sector workforce was 55 or older. Oregon’s workforce within agriculture is older; 33% of its workforce was 55 or older. Workers ages 65 and older comprise 17% of Oregon’s agriculture workers compared with 9% for Oregon’s private sector as a whole. On the other end of the age spectrum, agriculture employs a number of young workers just entering the workforce. Nearly 3% of Oregon’s agriculture workers are ages 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 the agricultural 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 2024, the average annual wage within agriculture was $49,046. Oregon’s private-sector average annual wage across all industries was $69,891. Farmworkers and laborers for crops and nurseries is by far the largest single occupation within the industry, representing nearly 39% of the industry’s total employment. The average annual wage for farmworkers is $37,294 per year. Having nearly 39% 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 73% of the industry’s total employment. The table below shows these ten occupations and their average wage across all industries.
Outlook for Ag
Oregon’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting sector employment is projected to grow from 2023 to 2033. The 2023 to 2033 industry projections from the Oregon Employment Department project the industry will add 2,300 jobs over that period, growing nearly 5% and slower than Oregon’s total employment, which is expected to grow 8% over that time. Over the past decade Oregon’s agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting employment grew 3,515 or 7% from 2014 to 2024. Oregon’s total employment grew 15% from 2014 to 2024.
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.