Livestock Production
• Stearns County has 64,000 dairy cows, making it the 16th largest dairy county in the nation.
• Over 4 million turkeys are raised in Stearns County each year, making it the second largest turkey county in the state.
• Stearns County is the No. 1 livestock producer in Minnesota; it also ranks No. 1 in cattle and dairy production.
• Dairy is Stearns County’s largest livestock sector, accounting for 46% of livestock income and 37% of total agricultural income.
• Livestock production provides 2,517 on-farm jobs.
Livestock Processing
• Poultry and cheese are Stearns County’s two major processing activities, with $244 million output for poultry and $238 million for cheese.
• Livestock processing accounts for 79% of all food processing output and 20% of all manufacturing output.
• Livestock processing provides 1,733 jobs.
Economic Impact
• Livestock is a $948 million industry in Stearns County.
• It also generates $749 million in indirect impact and $466 million in induced impact.
• The largest supporting sectors are manufacturing, agriculture, wholesale trade, services, and transportation.
• The supporting sectors and spin-off industries generate indirect and induced impacts for livestock production and processing.
Employment Impact
• In total, the Stearns County livestock industry supports 14,287 jobs.
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