Michigan agriculture director outlines budget priorities to bolster biosecurity, soil testing and rural development

Tim Boring, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), told the Michigan House Appropriation Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources on Oct. 26, 2025, that the department’s governor-recommended budget focuses on strengthening biosecurity, expanding plant and soil pest diagnostics, and reauthorizing the Freshwater Protection Fund.

Boring said the department is proposing a mix of one-time and ongoing funding to increase testing capacity for plant disease, soil-health services and invasive-species detection, and to raise the administrative cap on the department’s rural development fund to use existing balances from mining severance revenues. "We continue to lose the number of farms we have here in Michigan," Boring said, and noted that National Agricultural Statistics Service counts now list about "200 commodities produced here in Michigan" versus roughly 300 in previous years.

Why it matters: Boring presented the requests as measures to protect Michigan’s food supply and support farm economic opportunities after recent animal-disease responses. He framed the investments as small in budget share but high in community effect: "Our budget comprises 0.18% of the state budget," he said, while noting MDARD’s work touches food safety, consumer protection, laboratory testing, county fair support and environmental programs.

Major proposals and discussion - Biosecurity and animal disease response: Boring said lessons from recent…