Economic Importance of Minnesota's Dairy Industry
VI. Comparison of Dairy Industry to Selected Companies
The dairy industry, including supporting industries, earned $2.4 billion in income in 1997 and employed 53,696 people. To make it easier to gain perspective, assume the dairy production and processing firms were a single company and that the support industry was also a single company. How would this "dairy company" and "dairy support company" compare with other Minnesota firms in terms of their contributions to the state's economy? If the dairy industry, including production and processing, was all in a single firm, its 22,037 employees would make it the sixth largest employer in Minnesota.21 If the supply industries are added to production and processing, the dairy "company" would be the second largest employer in Minnesota.22
As shown in figure 10, the "total dairy" industry company (includes production, processing, and support industries) employs more people than 3M, Northwest Airlines, and Dayton Hudson Corporation. While this comparison gives a handy picture of the size of the dairy industry, it is comparing apples to oranges (or milk products to Post-its® and jets). We are comparing the entire industry to individual companies and we are not showing the individual companies' supporting industry employment.
This report shows that although dairy is not the state's most important industry, it does have significant impacts on employment and income. It is a key agricultural sector. Therefore, changes occurring in the dairy industry require our attention.
| Figure 10. Minnesota Dairy Jobs vs. Large Firms, 1997 |
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Note: 3M, Dayton Hudson, and NWA estimates do not include support industries.
Total Dairy* includes production, processing and support industries. |
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Minnesota Extension.
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