Agriculture

Agriculture is important to the county's economy

• Agriculture provides jobs for 4,871 Manitowoc County residents.
• Agriculture accounts for $1.4 billion in economic activity.
• Agriculture contributes $276 million to the County's total income.
• Agriculture pays about $20 million in taxes. This figure does not include all property taxes paid to local schools.

Source:  Updated December 15, 2011, by Scott Gunderson, Manitowoc County UW-Extension Dairy Agent.

Who owns the farms?

• Individuals of families - 91.1%
• Family partnerships - 6.1%
• Family-owned corporations - 2.5%
• Non-family corporations - 0.3%

Agriculture and the environment

Manitowoc County famers own and manage the resources on 257,111 acres of land - 68 percent of all land in the county. This includes pastures, cropland and tree farms.  Farmers implement various conservation practices to protect environmental resources and provide habitat for wildlife.