Farm Bureau slams Granholm for disregarding agriculture in State of State address

The Michigan Farm Bureau said today that it agrees with Governor Granholm that the old Michigan economy is gone and budget cuts are necessary but it chastised the governor for ignoring the state’s agriculture industry in her State of the State address last night.

The farm advocacy group said that the governor failed to acknowledge that agriculture is the state’s second largest industry, and that agri-food and agri-energy business contribute $71.3 billion to the annual economy and employ about a quarter of the state’s work force.

As Michigan hemorrhaged manufacturing jobs over the last decade, the agricultural sector has seen sustained growth and is expected to create 12,000 – 23,000 jobs per year through 2011, according to a study by Michigan State University’s Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“Agriculture generally doesn’t have the glitzy ribbon-cutting and groundbreaking ceremonies like some other business sectors, but everyday people are investing in their farms, employing their family members and neighbors, and diversifying their product offerings to provide a better future for their family, local community and the state as a whole,” Farm Bureau President Wayne H. Wood said in a statement.

“In talking about the ‘clean-energy sector’ the Governor mentioned taking Michigan ‘from the rust belt to the green belt,’ but I’d argue Michigan already has a ‘green belt;’ it’s called agriculture,” said Wood. “Agriculture has been Michigan’s green belt from the state’s beginning and will continue this legacy with proper support from state government.”

Streamlining state government and reducing its cost is a good idea, Wood said, but meaningful reform will require major cuts to corrections, human services and education.

“If you eliminate every other state department outside of corrections, human services and education, you’d only shore up enough money to operate the state for less than two months. The administration and Legislature must concentrate on the 86 percent which represents the biggest and costliest chunk of the pie. Otherwise, they’re just spinning their wheels and not getting to the heart of the major spending areas,” said Wood.

This is not the first time Granholm has faced criticism from state agriculture interests.

Her October 2009 executive order that restructured and removed powers from the state Agricultural Commission touched off strong opposition that eventually forced her to modify the order.

That same month, the governor vetoed funding for Michigan State University’s Agricultural Experiment Station and Extension programs in the temporary budget passed to keep the state running when legislators failed to meet the budget deadline. This touched off a wave of panic in the agriculture sector. Funding was eventually restored, but some saw the move as an attempt to scare rural farm districts into supporting tax increases to fund government.

In November the chairman of the Agriculture Commission, Democrat Jim Byrum, who is also president of the Michigan Agri-business Association, stepped down over differences with the governor on ag policy.