The impact of pet food manufacturing on the US economy

New research from the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) highlights the economic importance of the 523 existing pet food facilities across the US.

They estimate that the American pet food manufacturing sector hit sales of $102.3 billion (€‎94.26B) last year. Missouri and Kansas brought in the most revenue, with $12 billion (€‎11B) and $10.4 billion (€‎9.5B), respectively. According to the AFIA, Pennsylvania ranks third with $8.1 billion (€‎7.46B).

The AFIA study indicates that the industry contributed $7.4 billion (€6.8B) in local, state, and federal taxes.

Over 250,000 jobs

Such a wide-scale industry has generated hundreds of thousands of jobs. The association concludes that the sector creates nearly 284,000 jobs nationwide. 

Missouri, Kansas, Pennsylvania, California and Iowa are believed to be the states with the highest number of employees in the industry. “These states all have dozens of pet food manufacturing facilities generating economic activity, ranging from 18 in Iowa to 59 in Pennsylvania,” the study reads. 

The pet food manufacturing sectors generated around $20.4 billion (€‎18.7B) in total labor income last year. Again, Missouri was the leading state in the category with $2.5 billion (€‎2.3B). 

This is the most recent up-to-date data since the AFIA’s last survey in 2016. The association highlights that pet food manufacturing has continued to grow during this time. 

Methodology

The AFIA calculates the survey results based on a combination of direct, indirect and induced effects. 

The term ‘direct effects’ refers to the “economic activity directly attributable to the industry under analysis; in this study, the production of animal feed and pet food from a variety of inputs.”

Secondly, ‘indirect effects’ refer to those “of local inter-industry spending throughout the supply chain, for example, the seed, equipment, fertilizer, and other inputs used by a farmer to produce corn for a feed mill,” the study explains.

And lastly, ‘induced effects’ are the “results of employees of the, directly and indirectly, affected industries spending their income throughout the local economy.”