Posts Tagged: landscape

New report reveals California’s working landscape is a major economic driver

California's working landscape and the industries associated with agriculture and natural resources are the sixth largest sector of the state's economy, according to a new study by the California Community Colleges Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research, California Economic Summit and UC ANR.

“When people think of California's economy, they think of entertainment, information technology and other industries. They may not think of the working landscape,” said VP Glenda Humiston. “People may be surprised to learn that California's working landscape accounts for 6.4% of the state's economy, supports more than 1.5 million jobs and generates $333 billion in sales.”

“California's Working Landscape: A Key Contributor to the State's Economic Vitality” was released Nov. 7 by Humiston and Karen Ross, California Department of Food and Agriculture secretary, at the 2019 California Economic Summit in Fresno. More than 900 public, private and civic leaders from across California attended the summit which focused on workforce development, education, housing, infrastructure and ecosystem vitality, with an emphasis on lifting economic growth in all regions of the state.

“I'm excited about this report because it could have policy implications,” Humiston said. “We hope policymakers will understand they need to invest in working landscapes.”

To measure the economic impact of the working landscape, researchers analyzed federal data associated with employment, earnings and sales income of the nine segments that are essential to the working landscape: agricultural distribution, agricultural production, agricultural processing, agricultural support, fishing, forestry, mining, outdoor recreation and renewable energy.

Their analysis of 2018 data from the North American Industry Classification System showed the leading economic drivers were government (21.9%), manufacturing (10.2%), information (9.3%), professional, scientific and technical services (7.5%), and finance and insurance (6.4%).  Working landscape ranked a close sixth with 6.4%. 

Humiston noted that the estimate value for working landscape is conservative because it doesn't include veterinary services (because researchers couldn't separate livestock from pets) or any retail sales from food in California's 152,000+ supermarkets and convenience stores.  It also does not include value of ecosystem services from working landscapes that have indirect economic benefits such as sequestering carbon, capturing water, providing wildlife habitat and offering scenic venues for recreational activities.

The researchers found the nearly 70,000 businesses associated with the working landscape paid $85 billion to workers in 2018 and generated $333 billion in sales income. In terms of job numbers, earnings, sales income and number of establishments, four segments dominate: agricultural distribution, agricultural production, agricultural processing and agricultural support. 

In 2018, agricultural production provided the greatest number of jobs, more than 325,000, and generated the second highest sales income, $61 billion.

“I hope everyone reads the report,” Humiston said. “Too many people in this state take for granted where their food comes from and, I think, that has affected ANR funding and our ability to get the support that we need. They also take for granted the infrastructure that makes food safe, nutritious and available, and one of the most important parts of that infrastructure is UC Cooperative Extension because we keep the safety, productivity and other aspects of food production moving forward.”

To read the report “California's Working Landscape: A Key Contributor to the State's Economic Vitality,” visit http://ucanr.edu/WorkingLandscape. A one-page executive summary is available at http://bit.ly/2WTA7Vz.

 

Register for Environmental Hort and Pest Management program team meetings

The Environmental Horticulture Program Team will meet April 18-19 and the Pest Management Program Team will meet June 13-15.

Anyone (including ANR and non-ANR personnel) who wishes to participate is welcome to attend the program team meetings. Travel funds are available for ANR personnel.

From noon on April 18 to 3 p.m. on April 19, the Environmental Horticulture Program Team and the
Landscape and Urban Horticulture Work Group and the Floriculture and Nursery Work Group will meet at the UCCE Ventura County office at 669 County Square Dr., Suite 100, in Ventura.

Register for the Environmental Horticulture Program Team meeting and see the draft agenda at http://bit.ly/1X4WtfV.  For information about logistics, contact Program Support Unit or Saundra Wais at (530) 750-1260. For questions about the program, contact Janet Hartin at (951) 313-2023.

From June 13 to 15, the Pest Management Program Team will meet at the
ANR Building at 2801 Second St. in Davis.

Objectives for this Pest Management Program Team meeting are to

• Provide opportunities for work groups to meet. Work groups may want to discuss academic position proposals submitted before May 2 and how to organize stakeholders around proposals to demonstrate need and support for positions. Other priorities may be work group specific.
• Provide meaningful and timely professional development opportunities for program team members.
• Provide opportunities to identify new collaborations and to continue ongoing partnerships in collaborative research and outreach activities associated with pest management in ANR.
• Discuss, within a formal and facilitated environment, timely and/or controversial programmatic, organizational or disciplinary topics. Topics to be determined.
• Learn about recent and ongoing programmatic successes in collaborative research and extension activities from our members.
• Prepare for ANR's future (What dreams may come?) as a cohesive and united group.

Register for the Pest Management Program Team meeting and see the draft agenda at http://bit.ly/1qn8cf9. For information about logistics, contact Program Support Unit, Alex Zabelin at (530) 750-1259, or Sherry Cooper at (530) 750-1256. For questions about the program, contact Andrew Sutherland at (510) 670-5624.

Turfgrass & Landscape Research Field Day, Sept. 16

The UC Riverside Turfgrass & Landscape Research Field Day will be held on
Thursday, Sept. 16, from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The event will be at the UCR Turfgrass Research Facility, Dept. of Agricultural Operations at 1060 Martin Luther King Boulevard in Riverside. Registration is $50, but rises to $65 after Sept. 10. 

To register or for more information, go to http://ucanr.org/sites/UCRturfgrasslandscapefieldday/.

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