Food Fight Down on the Farm
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Is agriculture really No. 2 in output in Michigan's economy?
Is agriculture really No. 2 in output in Michigan's economy?
Gov. Rick Snyder has lavished attention on the status of agriculture and its potential for growth. But he has critics and naysayers who say the governor's hype is overblown.
Soon after taking office last January, Snyder officially changed the name of the Michigan Department of Agriculture to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The governor said the new name signals his plans to help the agriculture industry grow new and better jobs.
Ag Director Keith Creagh is a former official of the Lansing-based Neogen Corp., a global scientific specialty firm started by the late Ted Doan of Midland.
Creagh is working with other departments to improve roads and expand educational opportunities in agriculture.
Melissa Preddy, a writer for The Bridge, an online publication of The Center for Michigan, says in a recent column that Snyder is overly optimistic about the value and potential of the ag sector.
Michigan's agricultural sector grew between 2001 and 2009 by 59 percent, according to analysis by The Bridge. The sector, which also includes increased its GDP by $1 billion for the decade.
Other critics contend the only way agriculture could be in second place in the Michigan economy is by including everything from McDonald's to hunting and fishing.
Detractors minimize a Michigan State University review estimating the state's agri-food/agri-energy business at $71.3 billion a year, claiming a quarter of the 4 million paying jobs are linked to the agriculture sector.
Writer Preddy: "The claim is hogwash, state some economists. Only by the greatest stretch -- including grocery stores, for example, or the trucks that haul produce as "agriculture" businesses -- can the economic reach of Michigan's farming community be deemed so pervasive. Yet the numbers have been repeated so often that they've taken on a life of their own."
She quotes another expert. "It's absurd," said Mitch Bean, former director of the House Fiscal Agency and now a partner in Eaton Rapids-based Great Lakes Economic Consulting LLC. "It attributes all sorts of things to the agricultural sector that shouldn't be attributed there. And it way over-inflates and the impact and influence of the ag sector on the economy."
Snyder defends his initial moves: "This should be seen as more than just a symbolic name change. This should be seen as a clear signal that my administration intends to work with the agriculture industry to help it grow in order to bring more and better jobs to our rural areas, which are suffering with some of the highest unemployment rates in the state."
Creagh aims to integrating resources across government to make infrastructure improvements and expand educational opportunities that will make producers of food and other agricultural products job producing anchors in rural communities.
"Agriculture today is a high tech industry that relies on trained professionals with knowledge of the newest methods from biology and chemistry to packing and shipping." Creagh said. "Expanding educational opportunities will give Michigan's agricultural producers a competitive edge and ensure jobs are available for recent graduates who want to stay in their home communities."
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will focus on expanding agriculture's role in Michigan's economy by making sure regulations are based on sound science and expanding programs such as the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, which aims to help farmers run environmentally-sound operations. ###
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