As a service to our members who support and advance the Michigan Agri-Business Association, we provide monthly summaries of highlights from your association’s work. This is not an all-inclusive update. If you have specific questions, please contact Chuck or Kara from the MABA staff. June was an active month for MABA, with multiple events across the state. From an advocacy perspective, the month was dominated by the development of the FY27 state budget, which wrapped up just prior to the 4th of July. We wanted to provide a brief summary on our activities to MABA members, along with an initial assessment of the budget. Chobani Breaks Ground in Norton Shores: On June 2, Chobani broke ground on a $567 million expansion of its La Colombe facility in Norton Shores, the largest economic development project in Muskegon County history. The ceremony brought a wide range of government and agricultural leaders from across Michigan. MABA was proud to celebrate this milestone, which is expected to grow demand for Michigan milk roughly twentyfold at the facility. Learn more at this link. Michigan Agri-Business Educational Trust Scholarship Golf Outing: On June 16, the PohlCat Golf Course in Mount Pleasant welcomed our group for the annual scholarship outing, the largest since 2022. The outing served as a highly successful fundraiser for the Educational Trust, and we are grateful to all of the golfers, sponsors, volunteers and those involved in planning the event for supporting the next generation of Michigan agriculture. Applications are open for Spring 2027 scholarships and are due October 1. Presentation to Michigan Soil Health Task Force: On June 18, Michigan Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) Program Chair Tim Schaub and MABA President Chuck Lippstreu presented to the Michigan Soil Health Task Force, convened by MDARD. We emphasized the critical role professional agronomists play in advancing soil health. MABA has advocated for the creation of this important task force in recent years and we appreciate the opportunity to provide a CCA program update for the group. Screenshot Remarks to the Michigan State Millers Association and Joint MABA Board Meeting: On June 19 in Holland, MABA provided policy updates to the Michigan State Millers Association at the association’s annual meeting. For the second year in a row, we also worked in partnership with MSMA to cohost a joint meeting of the MABA board at this special event. The wheat and milling industry is critical for Michigan’s agricultural economy. We appreciated this important partnership and the opportunity to connect with millers from across the state, as well as Michigan Wheat leaders. MABA joins the Michigan Smart Trade Alliance: On June 23, MABA announced it joined the Michigan Smart Trade Alliance (MISTA) coalition to promote smart and consistent international trade policies. “Michigan agriculture exports nearly $3 billion worth of agricultural and food products annually, with Canada accounting for approximately 43% of that value and another 16% headed to Mexico,” we noted in the release. Ag Club Breakfast at Morgan Composting: On June 26, we were pleased to head to the home of Dairy Doo, Morgan Composting, for our June Ag Club Breakfast and a tour of the facility. We thank the team at Morgan Composting for sponsoring the morning, and the many association members who joined us to spotlight the composting and fertilizer manufacturing sectors of our industry. More photos from the event are here. An Initial Summary of the FY27 Michigan Budget A key element of our policy work the past month was ensuring your interests were represented during state budget negotiations. As with 2025, the Legislature was tasked with negotiating a budget on a bipartisan basis, because the House is controlled by Republicans and the Senate, and Governor’s office are controlled by Democrats. We recognized this would be a more austere budget year and that reductions could be needed in some areas. As a result, MABA was targeted and specific in communicating priorities to the Legislature. MABA has consistently supported a few different priorities during budget negotiations. With your support, the Association and our consultant team were present throughout negotiations and were tracking potential budget impacts in real-time as final negotiations were completed the last week of June. Here are some initial outcomes, as the Michigan House and Senate passed a FY27 budget agreement on July 3: MDARD/Pesticide and Plant Pest Management (PPPM): MABA supports full funding for this function, which oversees pesticide and fertilizer regulations, export facilitation and other tasks. This section of MDARD directly supports our members’ license to operate, product registrations, export certifications and more. The enacted budget includes a 3.0 FTE reduction to the MDARD-PPPM area, however these are unfilled positions and will not result in a real staff cut to the section. MABA advocacy has been important to maintaining funding for this section in recent years. Michigan State University: MSU plays a key role in ag research and innovation. MABA supports full funding for important programs such as MAAA and Project GREEEN.We are evaluating the impact of budget language related to MSU alongside industry partners; we were glad to see lawmakers agree to continued support for some of these key MSU-agriculture programs. Fees: While MABA does not oppose certain existing industry fees, which generally support programs related to the state’s agricultural industry, new fee creation and increases of existing fees must be held to a high standard of need. Working with Michigan lawmakers, MABA helped ensure the FY27 budget avoids adding new costs to our members and your customers by way of any new fees/fee increases. An in-depth news story about the broader budget can be found at this link: https://michiganadvance.com/2026/07/03/michigan-lawmakers-finalize-85b-budget-after-all-night-legislative-session/ MABA thanks Michigan lawmakers for working together to overcome disagreements and enact a FY27 budget. Questions about the budget should be directed to Chuck Lippstreu. Thank you for your support of MABA and participation to advance the industry.
