By Kevin Ellis for Business NC

North Carolina may be known for its good-tasting barbecue, but Tar Heel pork producers also get some recognition in a new economic contribution report by the National Pork Producers Council.

North Carolina pork producers added about $1.22 billion to the GDP last year, ranking eighth in the nation, according to the report. Nationwide, more than 60,000 pork producers contribute almost $62.7 billion to the economy.

Pork production in the Tar Heel state is concentrated in eastern North Carolina with Duplin, Sampson and Bladen counties leading the way. Based on cash receipts, hog production is the second-largest commodity produced in the state’s agricultural economy, behind chickens, according to a report by N.C. State.

North Carolina was also the third-highest U.S. producer of hogs with $3.1 billion in cash receipts in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. Iowa is the top producer with about $10.9 billion, followed by Minnesota with $3.6 billion, according to the USDA. Cash receipts represent the value of sales of hogs by farmers to processors or final users.

Pork production employed 13,072 in North Carolina last year, according to the National Pork Producers Council. Agriculture had a record $111 billion economic impact in North Carolina in 2022, up from $103.2 billion the year before, according to a report produced by N.C. State University.

This article originally appeared in a July 29, 2024 email newsletter from BusinessNC and is made available here for educational purposes only. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 106A-117 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Click here to subscribe to the Business North Carolina Magazine.