Spending Bill Reinstates 5-Year Vineyard Acreage Study

The National Agricultural Statistics Service, a part of the Agriculture Department, used to conduct such surveys until budget cuts eliminated them more than a decade ago.  WineAmerica had pushed for inclusion.  Now it will seek to get a commitment from NASS to actually conduct the survey.

“This type of information is vital to accurately measure total economic impact,” said John Dunham of John Dunham & Associates which conducted both the 2017 and 2022 national economic impact studies for WineAmerica. “Grapes are the foundation of the wine industry, and reliable data is the foundation of economic research.”

The 2017 study reported the wine industry’s total economic impact of $220 billion, and the 2022 study $276 billion–a 25% increase despite the Covid era. All 50 states produce wine and include 10,637 wine producers, provide 1.84 million jobs, pay $95.5 billion in annual wages, attract 49 million tourists, and pay a total of $22.8 billion in taxes. Wine is the ultimate value-added product from the vine to the glass, and a powerful economic engine.