Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

**Michigan Department of Agriculture Rural Development Overview** The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) houses four bureaus and is comprised of eight divisions that use a customer-driven, solution-oriented approach to cultivate and expand new economic opportunities for the food and agricultural sector; safeguard the public’s food supply; inspect and enforce sound animal health practices; control and eradicate plant pests and diseases threatening the $104.7 billion food and agriculture system; preserve the environment by which the farming community makes their living and feeds consumers; and protect consumers by enforcing laws relating to weights and measures. **Our Mission** Assure the food safety, agricultural, environmental, and economic interests of the people of the State of Michigan are met through service, partnership, and collaboration. **Our Vision** To be recognized as a national leader among state departments of agriculture through our expertise, effectiveness, application of sound science and delivery of quality service to our stakeholders. **Our Key Goals** **Food Safety, Human Animal Health** **Environmental Sustainability** **Economic Development** **Efficient Effective Government** All MDARD programs and activities are tied to at least one of our four key goals. Each of these key goals contains a group of measurable outcomes that define our progress towards success. These are tracked on an aggressive frequency with results displayed for the public to review on our monthly scorecard. Accountability for successful achievement of outcomes is ensured through timely review of the process/output measures that drive all of the day-to-day efforts.