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<br />~ j\ ,If '"'" <br />1\)'*0 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />system, During this period, agribusi- <br />ness employment has declined, and <br />farm and food system income and <br />employment have grown at a slower <br />pace, This growth pattern distorts <br />comparisons of farm and food sector <br />data in two ways, First, it causes an <br />apparent relative decline in the <br />contribution of agriculwre to the <br />state, even though the farm and food <br />sector continues to grow in absolute <br />terms, Second, substantial growth in <br />the economies of metropolitan <br />counties obscures the fact that <br />agriculture remains the dominant <br />business in the agribusiness depend- <br />ent and important counties, In this <br />group of counties the agribusiness <br />sector and the total farm and food <br />system are retaining, and more <br />recently increasing, their importance <br />in both absolute and relative terms, <br /> <br />Trends in Population and Per <br /> <br />Capita Income <br /> <br />In addition to the employment <br />and income trends, significant <br />changes are occurring in population <br />and per capita income (Appendix <br />Table A-6), The population data show <br />that both the farm dependent and <br />farm important county groups have <br />realized population losses during the <br />period 1984-1987, However, there was <br />significant variation in loss rates from <br />county to county in these two groups, <br />The metropolitan counties continued <br />to gain in population during this <br />period, <br />Per capita income in the agricul- <br />tural counties, however, showed <br />significant increases from 1984 to <br />1987, This was particularly obvious in <br />the farm dependent counties, Many of <br />the farm dependent counties, in fact, <br />were among the leaders in the state in <br />per capita income. The increases in <br />per capita income in these counties <br />indicate that agriculture was an <br />important participant in the economic <br />recovery in the state from 1984 to <br />1987, just as it was an important part <br />of the earlier economic downturn. <br /> <br />13 <br /> <br />Figure 9: Importance of farm andfood system. Employment, Colorado, <br />1973-1987. <br /> <br /> 30% <br /> 2B'16 r <br /> 2B'16 f- <br /> 24'16 f- <br /> 22'16 f- <br />I 20% r <br />18% r <br />!i lB% r <br />I 14% <br />'&i 12% r ~ <br />I 10% r <br />B% ~ <br /> B% <br /> 4% <br /> 2%, <br /> 0% <br /> <> Farm I foad <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />