Project ABE on AM Minnesota

Sam Ziegler, the director of Project ABE, was on today's AM Minnesota program. ABE stands for AG Business Epicenter. The mission of Project ABE is to build on the ag business we have in South-central Minnesota and maximize and grow the overall economy. In a nutshell, to turn South-central Minnesota into the premier ag business epicenter in the United States. As Ziegler put it, "turn Southern Minnesota into the Silicon Valley" of agriculture.

One of the key goals of Project ABE is to promote agriculture and develop tools for communicating how important ag is to our overall economy. Agriculture is the largest business industry segment across South-central Minnesota, with about $6.3 billion in sales. South-central Minnesota has a long list of ag business concentration and industry dominance. Taking raw agricultural products from the farm to grocery stores includes a lot of processing, transportation, research and development, the list goes on. Not to mention all the inputs to grow the crops and livestock to start with! It is safe to say most business in South-central Minnesota are either part of this "food chain" or are directly affected by it.