Wyoming's economic well-being revolves around three industries-the extraction of minerals, tourism and agriculture. The 1994 valuation of minerals produced in 1993 was $3,523,774,856. Tourism brought in an estimated $1,566,683,935 while agriculture also had a total economic impact on the state's economy of nearly $1.5 billion.
More than seven million people visit Wyoming each year, heading to the state's popular vacation and recreation destinations such as Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
There are approximately 9,300 farms and ranches in Wyoming which average 3,742 acres in size, the second largest average size of farms and ranches in the country. Its growing season ranges between 90 and 120 days. The agricultural industry accounts for 15% of the total employment and 10% of the total personal income in the state.
Wyoming is second in the country in wool production ($4.5 million), third in sheep and lamb inventory ($55.1 million), 7th in sugar beets ($58.5 million), 9th in barley ($28.9 million) and 10th in dry beans ($9.8 million). Other top ag products are: beef ($413 million), hay ($189.8 million), vegetables ($94 million), timber ($64 million), corn ($9.3 million) and wheat ($20.3 million).
Forty-eight percent of Wyoming land is federally owned, 42% privately owned, 6% state owned and 4% is Indian trust land.
Coal-Wyoming produced 209,925,826 tons of coal in 1993 which ranks Wyoming first in the United States in production. At the current rate of production, Wyoming has enough reserves (70 billion tons) to last 500 years. Most of Wyoming's coal is used to produce electricity in the midwest and south.
Bentonite-Wyoming leads the nation in production of bentonite with 2.5 million tons in 1993. Bentonite is primarily used by the oil drilling industry but it is also used in cosmetics, foods, cement manufacturing, toothpaste, wine clarifying, animal feed binder, water softeners and for fighting forest fires.
Trona-Wyoming has the largest known reserve of trona in the world, estimated from 50 to 100 billion tons. In 1993, 15,966,741 million tons were produced. About half Wyoming's trona is used in the manufacturing of glass, but some is packaged as baking soda that is used in almost every home in America. Trona is also used in paper, soaps, water softeners and pharmaceuticals.
Crude Oil-Some 88,960,236 barrels of crude oil were produced in Wyoming in 1993, ranking it fourth behind Texas, Louisiana and California. Petroleum is used as motor fuel and in the manufacture of medicines, plastics and other products from paints to synthetic rubber.
Natural Gas-Wyoming's natural gas production in 1993 amounted to 1,054,699,787 thousand cubic feet (MCF), ranking it sixth in the nation in natural gas production. Industrial, commercial and domestic heating are the major markets for this gas.