By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent
 
LANSING, Mich. — Three candidates for statewide office met at a Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) gathering early this month, seeking the group’s endorsement.

All the candidates who showed up for the event are running on the Republican ticket; these include Bill Schuette, a lawyer, former judge and one-time director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture. He’s running to be the state’s next attorney general.

Rick Snyder, a former Gateway, Inc. executive, wants to be the next governor. His opponent, Virg Bernero, was not at the meeting but did fill out the Farm Bureau’s AgriPac questionnaire (which Farm World addressed in an August article). The MFB provided his answers along with the announcement.

Also, Ruth Johnson, the Oakland County register of deeds, is running on the Republican ticket to become the state’s next secretary of state.

Schuette, the first to speak, made a number of colorful comments during his presentation. He started his speech by taking out his Farm Bureau card and reciting his membership number.

“I’m one of you,” he said. “I understand the process and I understand the Michigan Farm Bureau policy. I understand that Michigan agriculture is a huge part of Michigan’s economy and we need to unleash it.

“Right now one of the key burdens on agriculture is we have an anti-agriculture DEQ, DNRE or whatever stupid alphabet soup acronym they’ve got.”

Schuette said he would “protect the farms and families of Michigan and send a big message out there that if you spill a jug of milk in your farm yard, you don’t need a containment holding pen when milk is spilled on the ground.” He also said he would work to get rid of the Michigan business tax and would fight “Obamacare every step of the way.”

Schuette also blamed President Obama for the ongoing Asian carp problem. “We just need to block the canal, that’s the issue,” he said. “It hasn’t been blocked. Why not? The Obama administration refuses to do it … The President is siding with the Chicago shipping interests.”

Snyder said he would seek to replace the Michigan business tax if elected governor, with a 6 percent corporate income tax. When asked about animal rights groups and their effect on agriculture, he said, “Those groups need to back off. The right answers are scientifically-based approaches and generally accepted agricultural and management practices. That’s the way we should be doing things in our state.”

Snyder said the way to restore Michigan’s cities is not with more money, but fresh ideas and better organization. Asked about the state of the state’s roads, he said money needs to be put to work where it will do the most good.

He cited as an example of mismanagement a situation in Ann Arbor where a “critical bridge” in the city remains in poor shape while a first-class parking lot is being built in another part of town. “We’ve got to get our act together and put our money in the right places,” Snyder said.

At one point he was asked whether he would be willing to take action to make it so the agriculture director would be appointed by the agriculture commission, which is the way it was until Gov. Jennifer Granholm recently issued an executive order changing it.

“That wouldn’t be one of the highest things on my list,” he said.

Snyder also said the Department of Agriculture’s budget has been “shortchanged” and that the issue isn’t talked about enough. “You are the successful industry in Michigan,” he said. “At the same time, you’re suffering through budget cutbacks that are being applied across the board. That’s wrong.

“We need to invest dollars where they make huge, positive impact. We need to ensure the safety of our food supply and we need to have it so you have inspections when you need them to sell your product.”

Ruth Johnson, the register of deeds for the second largest county in the state, said she would take steps to stop the state from balancing its books with more and higher fees.

“I think it was dairy that was the most recent one that was gone after,” she said. “We saw that a few years ago. A few years ago the legislature voted for the largest fee, fine and taxes in the history of the secretary of state’s office.

“Was it to help run the secretary of state better? Was it for technology? No. It was to try to take care of the shortfall in the General Fund loan, and that’s something we all have to stand together and fight no matter what it is, because it hurts families and it hurts businesses.”