INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Indiana is in the early stages of developing a strategy that will enhance agriculture already in the state and help lure new businesses, said Ted McKinney, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.
While McKinney describes himself as a "committee of one," he intends to seek input on the strategy from a variety of agriculture-related companies and organizations in the state. Included on his list are representatives of commodity associations, livestock and poultry producers, food processors and the Indiana Farm Bureau.
He’ll also work with government agencies such as the state departments of Environmental Management, Transportation and Natural Resources and the Board of Animal Health.
The process will eventually include opportunities for the public and anyone else interested in agriculture to comment, he noted. A consulting firm has been hired to help with developing the strategy. McKinney declined to name the company or divulge its fee until a contract has been signed. He said he hopes to announce the strategy during the first quarter of next year. "I do not want to rush this," he stated. "I don’t want to miss one crop, one livestock or one intangible. We’re going to meet with these groups; we need them."
McKinney stressed the strategy will be for every aspect of Indiana agriculture. "I want us to be able to look in the mirror and say no stone was unturned" in developing the strategy, he explained. "We’re looking for a competitive strategic plan for all of agriculture so that we get right all that we need to get right. We want to look at everything that could help – and hinder – what agriculture does so well."
Now is an ideal time for the state to undertake the development of an agriculture strategy, McKinney said. The state’s business climate is good and the global demand for protein is growing, he noted. Indiana’s central location and the completion of the Hoosier Heartland project are things people worldwide are seeing, he added.
The Hoosier Heartland Highway Corridor connects Lafayette, Ind., with Toledo, Ohio, through about 200 miles of four-lane roadway. The project was completed a couple of years ago.
McKinney said the statewide agriculture strategy is an outgrowth of the previously announced state dairy strategy, which Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann introduced in March. The dairy strategy includes increasing the state’s dairy processing capacity and implementing policies that improve dairy farming operations.
In developing the state agriculture strategy, McKinney will look at what he calls intangibles, including immigration and road weights. "There is some struggle to get and keep employees," he said. "We also want to look at the ability to efficiently transport agricultural products."
The strategy will focus in part on bringing more processing to the state, which will in turn lead to more production, McKinney said. "We want to enhance agriculture in the state and be more competitive than our brethren to the north, east, west and south," he said. "We’re going to look at what they’re doing well and not doing well."
The development of a strategy is smart business and a wise use of limited public and private dollars, said Don Villwock, president of the Indiana Farm Bureau. "Indiana has been noted for trying to run a champagne program on a beer budget, with limited dollars and resources," he said. "We have to be more strategic and more targeted. We need open debate and dialogue about where we’re headed."
One subject Villwock would like to see addressed in a strategy is a way to deal with the expansion of metropolitan and urban populations to rural areas.
"(City dwellers) want their own little piece of green space," he explained. "They move without a realistic expectation of the sights, sounds and smells of rural living. That causes challenges."
