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CONVERSATION WITH… Jeffrey Armstrong, Dean,
College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

	Photo by Kurt Stepnitz

Editor’s note: “Conversation with” is a recurring forum in which MSU leaders share their thoughts, ideas and vision. In this issue, Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, discusses the mission of his college and some of the important initiatives and partnerships in which it is engaged.

Q: What is the mission of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR)?

A: The mission of the college is economic development and quality of life – as such, it is much broader than agriculture and natural resources. We are involved globally with food security, environmental issues, the built environment and virtually every aspect of the food system, including packaging and dietetics.

Something unique about Michigan State and the land-grant system is that MSU Extension and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station are universitywide; so much of what is going on in CANR is driven by these areas that work across other colleges and the state. The slogan developed by Associate Dean Eunice Foster to promote our educational programs can be applied across our mission: "We are more than you can imagine."

Q: How has the mission of the CANR evolved over the years and how does it tie in with President Lou Anna K. Simon’s views on the land-grant mission?

A: Many of the faculty and staff in CANR have been advancing world-grant for some time. For example, faculty members have been working on transformative food-security projects in Africa for more than 50 years. MSU’s lead role in the development of the Rwandan coffee enterprise is world-grant in action – we had people there even before the genocide. Our people have enhanced economic development and quality of life by helping the Rwandan farmers sell a higher-valued product. Central American farmers have had their income triple because of a similar program that involves shipping okra into Florida. We’re always looking to take what we do to higher levels.

Q: What are CANR’s key initiatives and what will be their impact on Michigan, the United States and the world?

A: Over the last two years, our strategic planning efforts have identified three major areas of programmatic focus.
The first is the emerging and expanding bioeconomy and all the associated opportunities and challenges in areas that include bioenergy, bioprocessing and value-added bioproducts development – as well as the food chain and ecosystem services that are part of Michigan’s bioeconomy.

A second area of emphasis is ecosystem health and services, which clearly connects to the development of the bioeconomy. This would encompass such issues as carbon credits, sustainable agricultural production systems, fisheries and wildlife management, and, of course, commercial recreation and tourism. It is noteworthy that two of the three largest industries in Michigan – agriculture and tourism – have strong program and intellectual bases in our college and in extension and the experiment station.

Our third major area of focus is food and health. Food science and human nutrition is now a joint program with natural science, and we are expanding our linkages with medicine. Clearly, agricultural products are more than food on the table; they are essential to health and may well have an expanded medicinal role in the future.

Q: Discuss some of the things your group has proposed and the progress in the House of Representatives and Senate regarding the reauthorization of the farm bill?

A: We are in the midst of a once every five- to seven-year opportunity to impact authorization of the farm bill. During the last 25 to 30 years, the U.S. Gross Domestic Product has tripled. During that same time, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding has doubled – an increase of $22 billion. For every dollar the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) spends on its research and development, the NIH spends $15. If you look at competitive funding, for every dollar USDA spends the NIH spends $120.

Shouldn’t we support programs in food safety and security, the environment, sustainable agriculture and natural resources and rural community development at levels closer to those that we provide for medical research?

I think the answer is clear: we need more USDA support for research, teaching and extension programs.
President Simon, former President Peter McPherson, and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow have stepped in to help. Our stakeholder groups also have been responsive.

The farm bill now is going to the Senate, and it is a bipartisan effort so many people are providing support. Our proposal, CREATE-21 (Creating Research, Extension and Teaching Excellence for the 21st Century), has been well-received by those writing the House and Senate versions of the farm bill.

We are optimistic that there will be substantially greater funding for competitive research and Extension programs.

Q: What do you think the public should know or learn about animal husbandry?

A: We want our land-based industries to be sustainable. To be sustainable, we need a comprehensive, long-term view from multiple perspectives – economic, environmental, ecological and social. We must have guidelines for how animals are treated and housed. It is really an issue of social responsibility in the food chain.

However, the guidelines we adopt must have a sound basis in science. For example, science has confirmed that we need to give poultry more space in cages. We also must realize and understand that consumers have the right to want their food produced in a certain way. After all, they are paying the bills. We ignore consumer demand at our peril.

Q: As the college moves forward, what do you see as its main opportunities and challenges?

A: We have to continue to be viewed as engaged and connected to the people of Michigan. And we want to be viewed as important for our state’s economic development and quality of life. After all, Michigan provides the bulk of our budgetary resources. Therefore, we must continually demonstrate how the state’s investment is producing dividends.

In addition, we absolutely must continue on the track of land-grant to world-grant focus and we must connect with people and cultures around the world. The problems and opportunities of Michigan are not unique to Michigan. We can learn from our friends around the world. In many international projects, we will work in partnership with other colleges and universities, with nongovernmental and governmental agencies or with private foundations.

For example, here in Michigan, we are partners with the Kellogg Foundation and we have many common goals. We have to make sure that our scholarly base – what we do in generating knowledge – remains strong. Strong scholarship is the key to our sustainability. We must always be mindful of the core values of MSU: inclusiveness, interconnectedness and quality.
If we do these things, CANR, MSU Extension and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station will continue to benefit Michigan and beyond.

For a podcast with Armstrong: spartanpodcast.com/?p=309