Farmers agree that confidence in Michigan’s food and agriculture remains high. In addition, confidence in Michigan’s overall economy has increased in the past 12 months. These findings are among the results of the Michigan Agriculture and Food Index, a survey of the industry’s leaders.
The MAFI gauges the current business climate of the state’s food and agriculture system by surveying 100 influential players in food and agriculture businesses. A rating of 100 on the index is considered neutral; ratings above 100 signal an overall positive outlook, and below 100, an overall negative outlook.
Food and agriculture leaders gave the overall state of the food and agriculture system a rating of 147. This rating has been steady since the first survey was conducted in April 2013. They gave Michigan’s overall economy a rating of 140, up 24 points since April 2013.
“That 24-point jump is significant,” said Chris Peterson, director of MSU’s Product Center and lead investigator on the project. “While they have always been confident in their own industry, this tells us that they have increasingly more confidence about the overall economic outlook for the state. A robust economy in Michigan is good news for everyone, not just the food and agriculture industry.”
In addition to the overall economic ratings, the survey shows that confidence in industry sales was up to 136, and investment was up to 119. The jobs outlook took a significant leap.
Even so, labor issues continue to be a hotspot of trouble in the agriculture industry. The top three issues of survey respondents were labor, government regulation and policy, and risk management, though this was the first time that labor issues topped the list.
Concerns about labor, coupled with continuing infrastructure worries, had respondents fearful about the ability to attract young people to careers in agriculture.
Expanded wireless broadband Internet access is a necessity in any effort to attract young people to the sector, said technician of the project Bill Knudson.
“The roundtable members continued to stress that rural Internet connectivity is absolutely essential in an industry that increasingly depends on technology,” Knudson said. “They seemed to agree that issue needs to be addressed on a broader level.”