By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN

Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Chapter of Americans for Farmers & Families (AFF) announced its formation this month. It is a coalition working to ensure President Trump and Congressional leaders understand the importance to agricultural and rural economies of preserving and modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“The benefits NAFTA has had on our state and local economy cannot be understated,” said Jason McConnachie, president of the Michigan Corn Growers Assoc. (MCGA), a member of AFF's Michigan chapter.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Michigan’s $35 billion in export sales to Canada and Mexico are topped only by California and Texas, and the Detroit metropolitan region’s exports to Mexico are greater in both absolute value and in share than those of any other U.S. city.

The state’s diverse agricultural production yields economic benefits from top exports such as beef, vegetables, fruit, corn and grains. A 2017 study showed that grain exports alone offered $628 million in economic output for Michigan.

“We have the second-most diverse agriculture industry in the United States, with about 40 percent of Michigan farmers’ exports going straight to Canada, our No. 1 export market,” McConnachie said. “A failure on NAFTA would prove catastrophic for Michigan’s farmers and consumers alike.”

This would be the state hit hardest by withdrawing from NAFTA, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A total of 366,000 of the state’s jobs are at risk if the United States withdraws from NAFTA.

According to the American Enterprise Institute, nearly 40 percent of Michigan’s gross domestic product depends on trade – the highest in the nation – and a staggering 65 percent of the state’s exports are bound for Canada and Mexico.

“Trade is absolutely critical for the corn industry, both for field corn and ethanol and DDGs (dried distillers grains) coming out of the ethanol process,” said Janna Fritz of Pigeon, who represents District 3 on the MCGA board of directors. She also serves as the board's secretary/treasurer and represents MCGA on the U.S. Grains Council.

She said MCGA’s involvement in the AFF, a broad-based national group of more than 70 organizations representing growers, refiners, producers, transporters, retailers and consumers, is another opportunity to educate officials about the importance of NAFTA for the nation’s agricultural economy.

“All of those organizations encompass lots of jobs and lots of dollars that are necessary and reliant on the NAFTA agreement,” she explained.

Ten percent of all land farmed in the United States produces exports to Canada and Mexico. These have more than quadrupled under the trade agreement and now represent 25 percent of U.S. exports. In addition, NAFTA has benefited all American consumers by helping keep grocery prices down.

NAFTA has opened markets to America’s farmers, grown domestic jobs and has supported $127 billion in annual economic activity. Under NAFTA, the U.S. food and agriculture industries support more than 43 million jobs. AFF aims to undertake a robust educational campaign to highlight the positive impacts of NAFTA to the state and to the country.

Fritz said a primary initiative of the MCGA is to educate its members about NAFTA through its grower newsletters and social media efforts. “That has been an educational piece that we have tried to put out to all of our grower-members so they may contact elected officials and continue to encourage the administration to continue talks and not just withdraw from NAFTA.”

Renegotiations with Canada and Mexico launched in August 2017, but White House officials continue hinting Trump may withdraw the U.S. from the trade agreement altogether.