MI Agri-Food System Reaches Goal

Governor Snyder says Michigan’s food and agriculture system has surpassed its economic impact goal of $100 billion. According to an interim estimate by the Michigan State University Product Center, Michigan’s agri-food system has reached a total annual economic impact of $101.2 billion. The study was first conducted in 2006 using 2004 data. Then, the food and agriculture system was determined to be valued at $60.1 billion. An interim estimate in 2009 showed an increase in value to $71.3 billion. In 2012, the study highlighted more growth, pegging it at $91.4 billion. Chris Peterson, director of the MSU Product Center and the study’s lead investigator, said strong commodity and food prices, along with growing domestic and global demand, help drive the increase. He says the impact of production agriculture alone is nearly $13.6 billion, or 13.4 percent of the overall total. Data from 2015 will be used to generate the next full report in 2017.