By Edgar Olson
Executive Director

You will notice something very different about this issue of Ag Innovation News.

Traditionally, our quarterly publication spotlights entrepreneurs and innovations that we support with financial and technical assistance. In this issue we’re taking a different tack. Rather than look at just our activities, we’re looking at where value-added agriculture, as a whole, is going.

For this special report, AURI staff and contributors have done their homework. By interviewing dozens of people, poring over research studies and searching the Internet, we’ve compiled information that shows value-added opportunities and trends identified by ag experts and commodity groups. Research being conducted in states such as Indiana or Iowa may eventually impact producers here at home. So we scoped out the nation for information, while focusing primarily on commodities with Minnesota potential.

Value-added agriculture has proliferated over the past decade, but the supply of potential new uses has not been exhausted and the need for research and development work still exists. It is exciting to see the extent of AURI’s involvement in some of the most innovative work in the country.

Value-added agriculture has and will continue to play an important role in the overall strength of Minnesota’s rural economy. One only need look at current crop and livestock prices to realize many producers cannot survive on what they receive for raw commodity prices. Creating additional demand for those farm products by developing new uses is a key component of a strong rural Minnesota.