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Federal grants approved for two Michigan value-added innovation centers, proposed anaerobic digester

Contact: Bob Boehm (800) 292-2680, ext. 2023
AgriNotes & News – a publication from Michigan Farm Bureau

LANSING, August 28, 2003 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently approved Rural Business Enterprise grants totaling $567,400 to start value-added innovation centers in Huron and Oceana counties as well as a $434,500 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency grant for a proposed anaerobic digester in Allegan County.

Two Rural Business Enterprise grants worth $283,700 each were awarded to Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems (MIFFS) to establish one "incubator kitchen" in Huron County and a second in Oceana County.

The centers will help entrepreneurs develop new consumer products from Michigan crops and livestock and provide assistance on how to manufacture and market the products. Part of the funds will be used to research what resources each commercial kitchen should provide to best serve its respective region, according to the Michigan office of USDA Rural Development.

The Huron County center also received a $40,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), said MIFFS Executive Director Tom Guthrie. The same MEDC grant is anticipated for the Oceana County center.

The grants will help fund feasibility studies to determine the size and scope of each center, said Guthrie. "We hope to have the feasibility studies done in six months and then be able to put pots and pans somewhere," he said. Each county has options for center locations under consideration.

The incubators are part of an overall strategy to assist value-added product development in Michigan by the Partnership for Product Agriculture, a broad coalition that includes MIFFS, Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB), the Michigan Department of Agriculture and others such as Michigan State University and USDA.

"The partnership's goal is to help farmers improve their farm income, and the incubator kitchens are a key component in what we hope will be a network of one-stop shopping for value-added product development," said Bob Boehm. "We envision the incubator kitchens to be a place where a farmer who has an idea for a new kind of salsa from a commodity, for instance, can test that idea and receive help in actually bringing the product to market."

Transitioning farmers from being producers of raw commodities to producers of consumer-ready foods is essential in today's marketplace where American Farm Bureau Federation surveys reveal that the farm value of each dollar spent on food in the United States is about 19 cents, which is down significantly from 41 cents in 1950 and 31 cents as recently as 1980.

"The farther the farmer moves along the food chain to the end product, the greater the earning potential," said Boehm.

And that bodes well for Michigan as a whole, said Guthrie. "The goal is greater economic activity in the food and agricultural sectors of Michigan," he said.

Guthrie added that the success of the centers ultimately depends on the people and communities who use them.

"Great things won't happen because MIFFS or the partnership is the recipient of a grant," he said. "Great things happen because people use them and make things happen."

Guthrie hopes to see additional incubators opened around the state in the future.