Vermont

III

Economic Activities

Farming was the main economic activity in Vermont until the 20th century, when manufacturing took the lead. By the mid-1990s the service sector, led by tourism, was the fastest growing segment of the state’s economy.

A

Agriculture

Until the 1820s grain, including wheat, was Vermont’s leading source of farm income. From 1825 to 1850 the largest source of farm income was wool from merino sheep. After the Civil War (1861-1865), dairying replaced sheep raising as the principal agricultural activity. With the urbanization of the northeast, milk became Vermont’s chief agricultural product.

Dairying is still the dominant agricultural activity in Vermont. The state produces about half the milk consumed in New England and leads the New England states in the production of dairy cattle. Vermont milk is also used to make butter, cheese, ice cream, and yogurt. With its cool summers and abundant rain, the state is one of the finest hay and pasture sections of the United States. In addition to hay, the state’s principal crops include apples, Christmas trees, and vegetables, including sweet corn. Poultry and eggs are locally important, as are greenhouse and nursery items. Vermont leads the nation in the production of maple sugar and syrup.

B

Forestry

About three-fourths of Vermont land is forested. Much of it is farm woodlots, however, and is not operated as a regular source of income. The principal hardwoods are the sugar maple, beech, and yellow birch; the principal softwoods are spruce, fir, and white pine. Christmas trees and evergreen wreaths are important specialties, providing many farmers with additional income.

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C

Mining

Stone, including granite, marble, limestone, and slate, accounts for much of the total value of mineral production in Vermont. The state is noted for its fine granite and marble. Granite production is centered chiefly near Barre, but excellent gray monumental granite is abundant in many areas east of the Green Mountains. Pink granite occurs in quantity east of Newport. The so-called marble belt is in western Vermont, chiefly in Rutland County. This region also produces slate. Talc is mined in southern Vermont, near Ludlow. The Champlain Valley is a source of limestone.

Vermont has been a major producer of asbestos, and much of the U.S. supply came from Belvidere Mountain, in the northern part of the state. Talc is produced principally in the Green Mountains.

D

Manufacturing

Wood products was the first industry to be developed in Vermont. Lumber processing reached its peak before the depression of 1893 to 1898. Metalworking developed in several towns and cities, including Burlington. Vermont workshops also manufactured hydraulic pumps, locomotives, machine tools, mining and quarrying machinery, rifles, scales, sewing machines, and other equipment. Many of these industries later migrated to southern New England or to the West. Vermont’s textile industry, which began before the American Revolution (1775-1783), declined in the 20th century as the cotton textile industry moved to the South and as synthetic fabrics competed with woolens. Along with coastal New England, however, Vermont shared in the general growth of the electronics industry, especially in the production of computers, as well as in the production of plastic products and airplane parts. Food-processing plants are widespread.

Today, the chief industry in Vermont is the manufacture of electronic components and equipment. The leading employers in the electronics sector are manufacturers of semiconductors and related devices. The state’s electronics industry is situated in the populous area near Burlington and Rutland. Other leading industries include food processing, particularly the making of cheese and other dairy products; machinery manufactures, primarily firms making metalworking machinery; manufacture of fabricated metals; wood products, including furniture; and paper and paperboard manufactures.

Some types of manufacturing are widely dispersed, such as furniture making and food processing. The state’s distinctive cheddar cheese is made locally in rural areas. The machine-tool industry, however, is concentrated in the Springfield-Windsor area of the Connecticut Valley. Another complex is in the Burlington area of northwestern Vermont, where the production of electronic goods and business machines predominates. Growth in the electronics and plastics industries has compensated for the decline of Burlington’s textile and clothing industry.

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