A Framework for Estimating the Linked Economic Contribution of Cotton Production, Ginning, Oilseed Milling, and Warehousing

This poster presents a framework and templates for estimating the economic contribution of the cotton industry, including production, ginning, oilseed milling, and warehousing. The IMPLAN default cotton sector is modified to represent regional production functions using Extension crop budgets. Ginning, cottonseed milling, and warehousing include backward linkages to cotton production that can result in double-counting expenditures. Furthermore, they are sub-industries within broader IMPLAN sectors that contain other important components of the Texas and agricultural economies, so they should not be exclusively modified to fit specific cotton tasks. We survey gins, cottonseed mills, and warehouses in two Texas regions to modify those IMPLAN expenditure patterns. Because ginning is actually a backward link in IMPLAN, a portion of IMPLAN sector 19 expenditures are subtracted. Then analysis-by-parts is used to estimate the ginning, cottonseed milling, and warehousing contributions under both cooperative and corporate ownership. Economists can easily use the developed templates (1) to modify production functions to represent their region and (2) to estimate the economic contributions of the linked industry and its individual components without double-counting inputs and distorting other aspects of the ag support services, oilseed milling, and warehousing sectors.