A new economic impact study reveals the critical role of Yuma County in Arizona's economy. Yuma's agriculture and agribusiness contributed $4.4 billion in economic activity to the state of Arizona and $3.9 billion to Yuma County in 2022.

Researchers found that produce grown in Yuma generated a whopping $3.2 billion in retail value, ranking the county third nationwide in sales of vegetables, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

The study also found that for every $1,000 worth of vegetables sold, less than one acre-foot of water – enough to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot – was used.

"There's this concern about how much water is being used and if it's being used efficiently," said George Frisvold, who led the study and is a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in the U of A College of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences. "In Yuma, they use 0.63 acre-feet to produce $1,000 worth of crops, compared to the rest of the Colorado Basin, where the average amount used is 1.44 acre-feet to produce a similar value."

The report places Yuma among the nation's major agricultural producers, with vegetable farmers being 58 times more concentrated in the county than the national average, surpassing many specialized hubs, including Detroit's vehicle manufacturing sector.

"The study findings provide a very important resource for planning and decision making," said José Quintero, an agricultural enterprise analyst in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and U of A Cooperative Extension. "We found that Yuma is to agriculture what Hollywood is to movies, and what Silicon Valley is to computers."

By the numbers

To provide a comprehensive analysis of the county's agricultural impact, researchers used a multiregional input-output model to quantify the direct and indirect contributions of farming, agribusiness and related industries. The model was customized using the best available data, relying on several data sources.

"The results were obtained using the most current and accurate data available, primarily from the latest USDA Census of Agriculture in 2022," said Claudia V. Montanía, an economic impact analyst in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and U of A Cooperative Extension. "This allows the estimated numbers to reflect the agricultural production structure of Yuma County."

Researchers found that of the $3.9 billion dollars in economic activity created in Yuma County, agricultural operations directly contributed $2.8 billion – including $1.3 billion from crop industries, $167 million from livestock industries, $1.3 billion from agricultural support service and suppliers, and $4 million from university-related agricultural research and Cooperative Extension activities.

"Yuma is a dynamic place with sophisticated agricultural operations that play a key role in winter vegetable supply chains at the national level," said Dari Duval, an economic impact analyst in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and U of A Cooperative Extension. "Agribusiness in Yuma goes far beyond on-farm production to include operations providing inputs, specialized services and carefully coordinated post-harvest activities. This wide scope of activity is reflected in the economic contribution numbers in the report."

The economic impact study was funded by the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, the U of A Office for Research, Innovation, and Impact, and The Cardon Endowment.