Innovate, Collaborate and Take Indiana to the Next Level
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWhen I think about what makes Indiana so great, many things come to mind: our stellar business climate, our world-class life sciences industry, our cutting-edge technology scene, and our enviable agriculture sector. While all of these areas are growing, and creating new jobs, it is our food and agriculture industry that has recently made tremendous steps forward and is finding itself at the intersection of these and other economic sectors in Indiana.
In a team effort to move the agriculture industry forward, many leaders from across our agricultural community joined together over the past 18 months and developed a 10-year Indiana Agriculture Strategic Plan. The plan’s strategic priorities, initiatives and actions will lift all of Indiana agriculture through 2027.
The plan’s vision is for Indiana agriculture to “enrich lives through innovation, education and collaboration.” More specifically, we will be focusing on seven priorities:
Economic & Community Development
Education & Career Development
Food & Agricultural Innovation
Infrastructure
Leadership Development
Natural Resources, Stewardship & Environment
Public Relations & Outreach
As the plan was coming together, it became clear that it is a testament to the strong sense of collaboration we have in Indiana and will help drive success for farmers, the industry and our state’s economy. There are many crucial components to this plan but the bottom line is that we are working together to advance Indiana food and agriculture.
All seven of the plan’s key priorities speak to the competitive assets of Indiana agriculture, but it is the Food & Agricultural Innovation priority that squarely aligns with those of our statewide agbiosciences champion – AgriNovus Indiana.
As a board member for AgriNovus, I believe that it is important to have an initiative solely dedicated to promoting and growing our agbiosciences sector. Our world is becoming more interconnected and collaborative, and we already recognize the power of these intersections here at home. Connecting the strengths of our traditional agricultural roots in crop and livestock production, the plant sciences, animal health and food processing to the robust life sciences and tech sectors, the state is in an enviable position of having what it takes to build multi-disciplinary opportunities across the agbiosciences.
Innovation, while built in the minds of pioneers, must be supported in order to thrive. The support needed, whether through financial backing, collaboration, mentoring, or finding a location for your new business – can be found here in Indiana. Governor Holcomb and I together are committed to his plan to take Indiana to the “Next Level” – innovation is a cornerstone of that plan.
It goes without saying that we all must continue to be champions for Food & Agricultural Innovation in Indiana. I am confident of our continued leadership in this sector and of achieving the goals laid out for us because of the team already assembled to take on the cause including state government, numerous colleges and universities, industry and other ag organizations.
We are incredibly fortunate in our great State to have so many strong and competitive economic assets. When I travel, and tell our Hoosier story, I am always able to say that we have a world view of knowledge, technology and innovation, and that we adhere to our deep values of hard work, fiscal responsibility and collaboration. And we do this all while maintaining a pioneering spirit.
I can say with certainty that our Holcomb-Crouch administration recognizes the importance of the agbiosciences to Indiana and are committed to more innovation, more collaboration and taking Indiana to the next level.
Suzanne Crouch is Lieutenant Governor for the State of Indiana and Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development.