LANSING, Mich. — The proposed Michigan agriculture budget for fiscal years 2015-16 includes a net spending reduction along with a number of large fee increases.
This budget for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) would spend $600,000 less than the current budget, at a total of $83.8 million. The current budget is $84.4 million. The budget proposal increases funding in some areas, such as food establishment inspections and farmland preservation, while cutting or eliminating in others.
"The legislature is working through budget negotiations right now," said Jennifer Holton, a spokeswoman for MDARD. "They usually try to finish by sometime in June."
The governor’s budget would eliminate one-time funding of $2 million for the Food and Agriculture Industry Growth Initiative, $200,000 for the Muskegon Farmers’ Market and $500,000 for the Ottawa County Agriculture Incubator.
It would eliminate funding for the Commercial Forestry Audit Program, saving $150,000, and eliminate the Rural Development Value-Added Program, saving $950,000. Last week, however, the state Senate added $300,000 to the Forestry program and put $250,000 back into the Rural Development Value-Added Program. It’s not known if these changes will make it through to the final legislation.
The budget would also eliminate shows and exhibitions grants for agricultural exhibitors, which are now $50,000, and reduce funding for county fairs improvement grants by $150,000. For now, at least, the Senate has put $20,000 back into the shows and exhibition grants program, and $120,000 back into the program for county fairs improvement.
Highlights of fee increases tied to the proposed budget include food establishment fees. These establishments exclude restaurants, which are regulated by county health departments.
For small establishments, the yearly licensing fee would rise from the current $67 to $183. For large food establishments, the yearly fee would rise from the current $167 to $468. The fee increases would be phased in over three years.
For the feed inspection program, there’s a proposal to increase the fee from the current 13 cents per ton of feed to 30 cents. Commercial feed includes all materials or combinations of materials for use in animal feed, including pet food. More than 2.8 million tons of commercial feed is manufactured each year in Michigan.
According to the department, the feed program hasn’t been updated or had a fee increase in 40 years. It now serves 1,300 firms that make or distribute more than 3 million tons of feed each year in Michigan. The department inspects more than 300 facilities where animal feed and feed products are made or stored.
For the fertilizer inspection program, the fee would rise from the current 10 cents per ton to 35 cents; this would bring in an additional $350,000 a year. MDARD says the program has not been able to meet the growing needs of Michigan’s 500 manufacturers and distributors who handle 1.45 million tons of fertilizers, soil conditioners and liming materials for both farm and non-farm uses.
For the pesticide inspection program, the annual registration fee per product would rise from the current $40 to $100.
This would increase revenues to the program to a total of $870,000. MDARD says it hasn’t been able to inspect critical areas like schools, daycare centers, nursing homes or health care facilities from misapplication or misuse of pesticides, because of a lack of funds.
Also, the groundwater/freshwater fee that’s scheduled to expire this year would be renewed. This fee is charged on retail purchases of pesticides and fertilizers.
The department says money from this fee has allowed MDARD to leverage millions of dollars in federal investment into local communities supporting area conservation district jobs, providing technical assistance to farmers to protect Michigan’s water resources and supporting the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program.
The bills being considered are S.B. 115 and H.B. 4094.
