Snyder ducks debate over where agriculture ranks among Michigan's industries

A January 2012 photo of Gov. Rick Snyder, who opened
the Michigan Ag Expo at Michigan State University
 this morning. / PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press

Gov. Rick Snyder gave praise and a pep talk to farmers as he opened the Michigan Ag Expo at Michigan State University this morning, but later sidestepped a debate over whether agriculture is Michigan's second-largest industry. 

"Agriculture is one of our Big 3," Snyder told reporters after speaking under a large tent at the expo grounds. "We've got autos, ag and tourism." 

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has disputed claims by MSU and others that the farm sector is the second-biggest in Michigan, claiming the analysis is flawed because it includes entities such as cereal factories, wholesalers, retailers such as grocery stores, and restaurants in measuring the economic impact. 

Based on that analysis, some argue that farming accounts for about one out of every four jobs in Michigan. 

Jamie Clover Adams, Snyder's newly named director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, defended the ranking when she addressed the Ag Expo shortly before Snyder did. 

"It's interconnected," she said of the economy. "That's how it works, and that's how we should measure it." 

Adams pegged the value of the farm sector to Michigan's economy at $91 billion. 

Snyder told reporters he agrees with Adams that the analysis of agriculture's impact used in an MSU study is sound and he also likes to say farming is the state's second-biggest industry. But he stopped short of taking a firm position on the debate. 

"We shouldn't be spending all our time talking about that," Snyder said. "Let's just make sure we're growing it." 

Snyder told more than 100 farmers at the event that farming was "one shining light" in Michigan during the prolonged economic recession. 

He said the sector doesn't get the credit it deserves. But he said it also needs to double its exports, and a new bridge across the Detroit River is critical to making that happen. 

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