SIC 5159 Farm-Product Raw Materials, Not Elsewhere Classified

SIC 5159

This industry consists of establishments primarily engaged in buying or marketing farm products that are not included in another classification. Some samples of the industry's products are animal hair, bristles, feathers, furs and hides, broom corn, raw cotton, hops, unprocessed or shelled-only nuts, tobacco leaf, raw silk, and bovine semen. Animals including chicks, horses, and mules are also industry products.

NAICS CODE(S)

424590

Other Farm Product Raw Materials Wholesalers

In 2001, the U.S. Census Bureau reported 1,517 establishments engaged in buying or marketing farm products that are not included in another classification. The total number of employees represented was 12,866, with an annual payroll of $468.8 million. By early 2007, D & B Sales & Marketing Solutions reported that the estimated number of establishments in this industry totaled 2,973, with 18,357 total employees, and annual sales of nearly $19 billion. The average sales per establishment, however, had declined to $6.8 million.

The industry was subdivided into five categories: cotton, representing 34.7 percent of the industry's total sales volume; other farm-product raw materials, representing 25.1 percent; hides, skins, and pelts, representing 21 percent; leaf tobacco, representing 16.2 percent; and wool, wool tops, and mohair, representing 3 percent.

States with the highest number of establishments were Texas with 318, California with 245, Georgia with 144, and New York with 143. Combined, they represented more than 28 percent of the overall market presence, generating approximately $3.9 billion in sales. Additionally, Virginia, North Carolina, and Mississippi only have a combined total of 290 establishments in this industry, but represent a whopping 63 percent of overall sales, generating almost $12 billion. The tobacco leaf sector generated the most sales with almost $7.5 billion, followed by cotton merchants with $2.7 billion, raw cotton with $1.9 billion, and tobacco distributors and products with $2.5 billion.

The industry closely scrutinized one of its top sellers, cotton, conducting research to improve fiber quality, fiber processing, new yarns and fabrics, and dyeing and finishing. It also performed research on the consumer market by monitoring and analyzing retail sales, textile industry changes, international fashion trends, and consumer attitudes. Of course, the industry's most controversial product, and...