Ag Expo
This week the corn continues to grow, despite the warm temperatures. It has topped 90 degrees every day this week.We haven’t had any rain either. However, our corn hasn’t started to “roll” yet. When the heat is too high or the corn needs water, the leaves will “roll” up. While I certainly don’t want that to happen I’ll snap a picture if it does!
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| You can just barely see our little red flag in the photo! |
This week the guys were lucky enough to head over to Ag Expo at Michigan State University. A description of the event:
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| MSU: Home of Ag Expo & the Spartans! |
Across the Expo grounds this year, you can meet with more than 200 exhibitors to learn about products and services that help Michigan agricultural producers continue to succeed. It’s your opportunity to check out the latest models of tractors, sprayers and dairy equipment or compare seed and fertilizer varieties. You can enjoy the full schedule of demonstrations and educational sessions to help you manage your farms and businesses. Demonstrations focus on tillage, mortality composting, sprayer calibration, equine management and biodiesel processing.
I wasn’t able to go this year, but I have been in the past and it is very cool to see all the newest technologies, innovation, and trends.
Some cool facts about agriculture in Michigan:
- In Michigan, 923,000 people are in jobs related to agriculture, and 618,000– about 22% of the state’s workforce–are directly employed by the industry.
- The agriculture industry has seen a growth of $20 billion since 2009.
- Field crops account for almost $6 billion in economic activity in the state, with livestock and dairy accounting for another $4.75 billion.
- Corn is Michigan’s largest single crop with sales around $1.3 billion.
- Michigan’s farms account for $13 billion in economic activity.
- Fruit production and related industries account for $758.4 million in economic activity in Michigan.
- Michigan is the largest producer of blueberries and cherries in the U.S.
- The state has 300 agricultural commodities, second only to California.
- Michigan is home to the third largest number of farmers markets.
- Michigan has 54,900 farms and 10 million acres of farmland.
- Food processing creates 130,000 jobs and $25 billion in economic activity in the state, good for 19th in the nation.
- There are nearly 1900 licensed food processors in Michigan.
Michigan’s Governor Snyder visited the event on the opening morning. He said, “While most other industries were struggling and going on a downward trend, agriculture was our shining star.”
The Governor has been an excellent advocate for agriculture in our state and his administration was a welcome change. Take a look at this video and see some footage from the Ag Expo:
