Mid-Michigan’s milk cows got star billing in the state’s 2008 annual Agri-Business report just released by Don Koivisto, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
Highlighted in the report is the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), which owns the largest dairy co-operative in the state in Ovid, in Clinton County.
The MMPA invested $35 million in its Ovid plant, leveraged into $186 million in both direct and indirect economic impact, the MSU Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources says. With the plant’s new capacity, it can process five million pounds of milk, or 25 percent of the state’s annual milk volume of 7.5 billion pounds. The plant expansion created 10 new jobs, bringing its employee base to 96 and creating 344 construction jobs.
Koivisto also cites grants extended to the Michigan Potato Industry Commission and the Michigan Apple Committee, both housed in DeWitt, as well as Seafood Systems, Inc. in Okemos, which is working on developing shrimp farms.
Agri-business employs a million people, nearly 25 percent of those currently working in the state.
“If Michigan’s agri-food sector appeared on the
Fortune 500 list, it would rank 62nd, which speaks volumes on the
importance to Michigan’s economic health,” Koivisto notes.
Source: Michigan Department of Agriculture
Gretchen Cochran is Innovations and Jobs editor. Contact her here.
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