In 1989, a new means of determining the impact of the agribusiness industry on the state's economy was announced at the 20th anniversary celebration of the NC Agribusiness Council. Edmund Aycock, then executive vice president of the Council was the prime force behind a new method for measuring the economic size of North Carolina's agribusiness industry. Aycock had long contended that the farming figures did not accurately reflect the true impact of agriculture on the state and its residents. Announcing the Value-Added methodology at the 1989 Annual Meeting of the NC Agribusiness Council was Dean Durward Bateman, NCSU-College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Dean Larry Tombaugh, NCSU-College of Natural Resources; and NC Commissioner of Agriculture Jim Graham. The study was conducted by Dr. Michael Walden, NCSU extension economist, who found that in 1987, the total impact of agribusiness was $20 billion, which was 19.9% of the gross state product. In the most recent study, Dr. Walden found that in 2023, the total impact of the agribusiness industry was $103.2 billion, which is 16% of the gross state product.