With all the focus lately on energy, aerospace and tourism, you’d be forgiven for forgetting agriculture is still a big industry in Oklahoma.
JanLee Rowlett with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture said the state is already in the top 10 nationally of many farming sectors.
"No. 1 in rye and native pecan production. We’re No. 2 in beef cows, No. 5 in winter wheat, all the way down to No. 9 in hog production," Rowlett said.
Rowlett said there’s money being left on the table, though.
"We’re really good at producing raw material, raw ag products, but we ship them out of the state and we want to keep more of that here in Oklahoma, do more further processing and value-added opportunities here in our own state," Rowlett said.
Rowlett said Texas and Kansas get most of Oklahoma’s agriculture commodities shipped out of state for processing. Processing could be another economic opportunity for rural areas of the state.
