Agribusiness a Growing Opportunity
Posted by Amy Clickner on January 13, 2012
For the past few years, “Buy Local” has been the mantra for businesses and communities across the country, including our own. By now, everyone should understand the importance of keeping dollars earned within the community. A few years ago, both TV6 and the Mining Journal began community marketing campaigns that went a long way toward increasing awareness of the importance of buying locally made products. At LSCP, we’ve promoted local shopping with our Gift Check and Key to the County programs.
A sector which has begun to experience a bit of a boost from this locally-conscious movement is agriculture or “agribusiness.” Evidence is all around our community. Today, you can walk down the aisles of just about any grocery store in the area and find specially marked sections which feature products grown and produced in the Upper Peninsula. Also, many area restaurants have begun to highlight items on their menu that are made with food purchased from local growers.
According to the last census of agriculture by the United State Department of Agriculture in 2007, goods producing farms employ roughly 215 people in Marquette County. That’s not including the industry it supports such as equipment service and repair, crop transportation, the stores and restaurants that sell these products and so on. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development also reports that agriculture in the state is a $71.3 billion industry, and is our second largest economic driver supporting over one million jobs.
While there is trending growth in local agribusiness, agriculturalist Charles Bergdahl claims that the demand is increasing not only for locally grown products, but for farms and farmers across the county. “In 1950, 50 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas and 30 percent worked on farms,” Bergdahl says. “Today, fewer than two percent of Americans farm for a living.” Farm Journal Magazine reports that, due to population growth, farmers will need to produce more food in the next 50 years than was produced in the previous 10,000 years combined! You may have heard that the world’s food production needs to double by the year 2050. This projection continues to be widely debated in agriculture circles around the globe.
According to Natasha Lantz, Education and Outreach Director for the Marquette Food Co-op and new appointee to Governor Snyder’s Food Policy Council, the State of Michigan is formulating a strategy to address the future demand. “I’m not sure whether food production necessarily needs to double, but the distribution of food needs to be addressed. That is why the State is considering the development of food hubs. ”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a food hub as a “centrally located facility with a business management structure facilitating the aggregation, storage, processing distribution, and/or marketing of locally/regionally produced food products.” As Natasha explains, food hubs will create opportunities for small and medium growing operations to better distribute their product, as well as address the needs of the immediate region by increasing the available supply of staple foods to areas both rural and urban.
These future projections seem to translate to a growing opportunity for business expansion and job growth in our region. “The opportunities are endless,” says Natasha Lantz, “But currently, the supply does not meet the demand. Many businesses want to buy locally, and the supply is not yet balanced with the demand. It’s a great time to start an agribusiness!”
If you are interested in learning more about agribusiness opportunities, visit the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development Web site at michigan.gov/mdard. For more information on regional economic development, visit marquette.org or call 226-6591.
