News

Michigan passes ag export record

Michigan’s food and agricultural exports in 2022 topped the previous year’s record at $2.7 billion.

Jamie Zmitko-Somers with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development tells Brownfield growth across nearly all commodities
led to an eight percent increase.

“The biggest growth that we have seen year over year is really in our processed food products, and this is fantastic news for Michigan because we are adding additional value to a lot of those products that we’re growing and producing here,” she shares.

That’s followed by sugarbeets, soybeans and related byproducts, brewing waste, and animal feed, along with dairy, wood, and meat products as top-valued exports.

Zmitko-Somers says about 60 percent of exports are sent to Canada and Mexico, with South Korea, China, and Japan rounding out the five top markets.

The department is hosting a trade mission this fall to Canada and had plans to attend several international trade shows in the U.S. and abroad.