Regional intersectoral relations and demand projections with emphasis on the feed-livestock economy of the north central states

This study deals with the agricultural economy of the North Central States and the transactions that occur among the various sectors and related manufacturing and service businesses in the region. The analytical framework-the intersectoral transactions table-provides a means of organizing a vast amount of data pertaining to the North Central Region. In addition, the data that have been prepared can be used in evaluating major areas of investment opportunities in agriculture and agriculturally related business in the region. The evaluation of investment opportunities in this study starts with projections of manufacturing and other final demands for the agricultural products of the North Central Region and its subregions. According to the detailed estimates of demand for agricultural products outside of agriculture, for example, the North Central Region would fulfill more than 2.4 billion dollars of the 4.2 billion dollars expected increase (in constant 1955 dollars) in the demand for meat animals over the 20-year period from 1955 to 1975. A substantial part of the total increase in demand -about 1 billion dollars - would be for the meat-animals output of the Western Corn Belt; namely, Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri. The Northern Plains - North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas - would account for 745 million dollars of the total regional demand, while the five states in the East North Central Region -Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan - would account for the remaining 700 million dollars of the total. Thus, 41 percent of the total increase in the demand for the meat-animals output of north central agriculture would be concentrated in the Western Corn Belt, according to the findings of this study