MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon spoke before a group of agricultural business leaders Tuesday as part of a conference hosted by the Michigan Agri-Business Association.
Simon was there to stress the importance of the emerging bioeconomy to Michigan's future.
"It's an opportunity to push a biomass initiative," Simon said. "Agriculture is more than just growing crops — it's about growing business."
During the event, also attended by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Simon met with representatives from major agricultural companies, such as Star of the West and Dupont, to explain how the state can utilize research in new production methods to boost the economy.
"We want to move away from crop production into chemicals and materials, as well as alternative energy," Simon said, explaining the idea that agricultural products can be converted into chemicals and then replace petroleum-based products in plastics and other materials.
Simon said the conference was an ability for the industry to come together and find a common point of view about how to move forward.
"This is an opportunity to develop a strategy to work with agri-business, the university and the legislature," Simon said. "There is a lot of opportunity in the bioeconomy."
Simon also recognizes a sense of urgency about the topic in relation to the governor's recent passage of the 21st Century Jobs Fund, which will utilize tobacco lawsuit settlement money to help fund new, high-tech jobs in Michigan. Simon said the university could compete for the money.
"Now we've got to get a plan of action," Simon said.
Mitch Irwin, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture, attended the conference and said the speech was well received by industry representatives and complementary to what the governor had previously outlined as initiatives for the state.
"We're all on the same page," Irwin said. "We need to pursue (economic) diversity in Michigan, no question."
Irwin said the agriculture industry will seek to stabilize and diversify the research concepts being "cooked up" in the academic sector to create products consumers will purchase in a post-petroleum world.
He said the new biomass technologies are just the next step in the evolution of agriculture.
"Since we replaced the horse-drawn plow with the tractor, there has been constant change in the industry," Irwin said. "We are always going to eat, so we have to continue to innovate and export our products — competition demands it."
MSU has long played a role in the development of new agricultural processes in Michigan, Irwin said, and this latest push toward biomass is in line with the university's past contributions to the industry.
"Simon believes in a new era of post-petroleum and wants to focus on that," Irwin said. "We believe she's right."
Irwin said a lot of people believe the state needs to nurture its traditional crop use with new technology and continue to move forward aggressively.
"(Researchers at MSU) turn theory into practice, but not everyone who is a world-class researcher is a world-class entrepreneur, and not every world-class independent farmer can produce research," Irwin said. "We need both to do well."
