By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s budget problems could have been the end to a service that has been supporting the state’s agricultural industry for 150 years.

But, last Friday, one month into the new fiscal year, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the state’s 2009-10 budget, which left intact funding for Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Stations (MAES).

MSU officials fought for funding for several days, facing the possibility of a line-item veto that would have closed both the MSUE and the MAES.

When the university received its October state payment – its first for the new fiscal year – funding for MSUE and MAES was not included. Withholding of October’s payment for extension and experiment station research and education raised concerns that funding for these critical MSU programs was...