News

Michigan Farm Bureau pleased with Whitmer’s ag budget

Governor Gretchen Whitmer is proposing more than $50 million in additional one-time funding for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Legislative Counsel Rebecca Park with Michigan Farm Bureau tells Brownfield she’s optimistic about $37.5 million dedicated to food and ag supply chain investments.

“Everything from expanding and promoting processing to growing exports and increasing food processing capacity in the state is what I hope to see in this line item,” she says.

Whitmer earmarked $10 million for MI Climate Smart Farming.

“I’m anticipating that this is a program that will help to bolster farmers and land owners who want to implement conservation practices, but the devil’s going to be in the details and we just don’t have a lot of those details quite yet,” she shares.

The governor is also proposing more than $6 million for Emerging Contaminants in Food and Agriculture Sector efforts and $5 million for Northern Michigan Herd Protection Management to mitigate bovine tuberculosis.

Park says outside of the ag budget, additional funds have been outlined for Michigan State University Extension and AgBioResearch, along with other education and nutrition efforts that will benefit farmers.

Park says she hopes added focus on affordable housing will also support rural and farm worker housing needs.