Agriculture Department head works to boost food industry

DAVID RUNK

DETROIT (AP) — The new head of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is moving forward with efforts to boost the state’s agriculture exports, encourage job-creation in the food industry and make sure farmers get the support they need amid this year’s extreme weather.

Jamie Clover Adams notes, however, that ensuring food safety remains at the core of the department’s mission. With more funding for the coming budget year approved by the Legislature and Gov. Rick Snyder, she said, the department is stepping up those efforts as well.

“It’s kind of like one of those invisible things that folks don’t really think about,” Clover Adams said in a recent telephone interview. “But we are definitely focused on that because that is the core and the underpinnings to the success of the entire sector.”

The new budget increases spending for the department to about $70 million and includes nearly $6 million for initiatives supporting increased on-farm environmental protection, food safety and opportunities for regional economic growth. There’s also $600,000 for additional staff to work on rural development efforts, assist with economic growth work and support export expansion.

One notable change will be dairy inspections, Clover Adams said, which previously were turned over to industry field representatives in nine central Michigan counties. With about $300,000 in additional funding, a total of 17 state dairy inspectors will be available to inspect all dairy farms and processing plants, the department said.

“We’re bringing that back in house,” she said. “We’ll have the state inspection personnel but we’ll also have the industry folks who are still out there.”

The focus on food safety makes business sense. Leslie D. Bourquin, a professor and food safety specialist with the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Michigan State University, said ensuring food safety is crucial — particularly if the agriculture sector wants to expand trade.

“It’s non-negotiable” Bourquin said.

Clover Adams came to the agriculture department this month from the state Department of Environmental Quality, where she was its policy and legislative affairs director. Her experience also includes four years as director of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, from 1999-2003, and she has been drawing on that experience as she gets settled in Michigan’s department, which has an expanded economic, social, and educational focus.

“It is about more than just agriculture and food,” Clover Adams said. “It’s about many other things. And how do we expand on that.”

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