BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — If there was doubt about the importance agriculture has in Indiana’s economy, a study from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business puts that to rest.

Cultivating Trade: The Economic Impact of Indiana’s Agricultural Exports says the Hoosier state had $3.4 billion in commodity and processed goods exports in 2010, representing 10 percent of all of Indiana’s exports. The study was funded by the Indiana Soybean Alliance.

“This study confirms and puts a value to the positive economic impact agricultural trade has on our state,” said Kevin Wilson, president of the alliance and a farmer from Walton.

“The growth of foreign markets for agricultural products has only enhanced the significance of this sector in the Hoosier State,” said Timothy Slaper, director of economic analysis at the Indiana Business Research Center at the Kelley School.

Slaper said when the value of exports is combined with the sale of processed goods, there is an additional $2.2 billion in economic impact. Additionally, the study said agriculture employed 100,000 people on 62,000 farms or agricultural processors in 2010.

Chris Hurt, an agricultural economist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, said even though agricultural receipts are small when compared to the rest of the state’s economy, it plays an important role.

“I think it gets overlooked a lot because it’s a traditional industry. It’s always been here,” he said. “It’s based on natural resources, and Indiana has plenty of land for farming. It also has good access to export markets via water, especially the Ohio River and down the Mississippi.”

Hurt said there is a sizable amount of container shipping of pork products and other agricultural commodities, but the majority of the state’s exports are feed grain and crops. The top five Indiana exports are corn, soybeans, hogs, dairy products and eggs. Indiana is the eighth-largest agricultural export state, accounting for 3.1 percent of the nation’s ag exports.

“In the last three or four years while the general economy has struggled, the agricultural economy has done quite well,” said Hurt. “Our customers are the developing countries, and right now their economies are doing quite well, especially China.”

Also contributing to Indiana agricultural exports is a growing demand for biofuel in other countries. “There is a massive demand,” said Hurt of the 1 billion-gallon ethanol market. “It’s 10 percent of the fuel supply, and that demand has come in just the last five years.”

He said one of Indiana’s biggest customers is China, which has gone on a global food-buying spree in order to feed its growing population. “We are very productive and we have what countries want and need. We fit well with China’s goal of buying food.”

Hurt said when Gov. Mitch Daniels took office, he made it a point to support farming. “He said agriculture was one of the areas Indiana would emphasize and be a leader. Agriculture is what’s here. It’s a natural advantage for Indiana, with land resources and the number of food processors we have.”

Ben Breazeale, the farm service group leader for Cargill in Indiana, said agricultural exports are a “pretty important part of Indiana.” He has been with Cargill for 10 years. The company has export terminals at the Port of Indiana on Lake Michigan City and at the Evansville Wharf on the Ohio River.

“Most of what we ship goes through the Ohio River,” he said. “To a large degree, most people in Indiana don’t understand the importance of agriculture to the state, but it represents 2 percent of the state’s workforce.

“Everybody uses it, too. There is a bit of a disconnect because people see it but they don’t realize what it is. Maybe it’s because it’s been a part of the landscape for such a long, long time.”

Cargill is a major player in the world’s ag markets, with 139,000 employees in 65 countries. Founded in 1865, it is the largest privately held company in the United States. Cargill’s terminal at the Port of Indiana has 12 employees. It has 14 concrete silos and five steel silos with a capacity of 5.4 million bushels of storage.