There's an important message for Wisconsin in a new report that details the role that land-grant universities play in generating jobs and economic growth, according to those who lead agricultural research and extension efforts here.

"Agriculture is a $60 billion-a-year industry in Wisconsin. It generates about 350,000 jobs, a significant share of which are in urban areas, and at a time when other sectors have been struggling, agriculture has been a stabilizing force," says Rick Klemme, dean of UW-Extension Cooperative Extension Service, a member of the committee that commissioned the study. "This documents the extent to which this economic activity is fueled by publicly funded research and extension work in agriculture, food and nutrition, bioenergy and related fields."

The study, "Power and Promise: Agbioscience in the North Central United States," prepared for 12 land-grant universities by the Battelle Institute, makes the case for sustained or expanded federal, state and local support for north-central states' land-grant universities, agricultural experiment stations and extension services. "Now is not the time to short-change investment in the fundamental institutions underpinning economic growth in agbiosciences," the authors note. 

Read the full release at news.wisc.edu.