A DJI T40 spray drone.

High tech, AI, boost farm productivity, earnings

FARM TECHNOLOGY: New precision farming technologies, including AI, are making agriculture more efficient. We hear about it from a Farm Bureau board of directors member from Portland, two MSU researchers and the director of the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. By Anish Topowala. FOR GREENVILLE, IONIA, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! FARM NEWS, HOLLAND, OCEANA COUNTY AND ALL POINTS.

In 2022, the SEA LIFE Aquarium in Auburn Hills featured artist Hannah Tizedes’ plastic mural of the Great Lakes. She collected all of the pieces from Great Lakes coastlines for over a year.

Great Lakes inspire murals, doodles and poems

MURALS DOODLES POEMS: The Great Lakes inspire Michigan artists and poets. We talk to an artist-activist who organizes community cleanups around Lake Erie through her nonprofit, a Lake Michigan surfer-artist and an MSU professor-poet. By Kayla Nelsen. FOR MONROE, ADRIAN, BLISSFIELD, HOLLAND, LUDINGTON, PETOSKEY, TRAVERSE CITY, CHEBOYGAN, LEELANAU, ST. IGNACE, ALPENA, ALCONA, HARBOR SPRINGS, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, PLANET DETROIT, IRON MOUNTAIN, OCEANA COUNTY,, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

This Clean-Seas facility in Newaygo is the proposed site of a new chemical recycling operation.

Scrutiny builds as Michigan awaits first ‘chemical recycling’ facility

PLASTICS: Western Michigan would get the state’s first chemical recycling facility, in Newaygo, that would convert unrecyclable plastic into other products, such as fuel and more plastic. Critics, including lawmakers from Detroit and West Bloomfield, say the process would create other major environmental problems. The Michigan Chamber of Commerce supports the project. By Theo Scheer. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! DETROIT, GREENVILLE, OCEANA COUNTY, BIG RAPIDS, LUDINGTON AND ALL POINTS, AND ALL POINTS.

New book exposes local impact on introduction, loss of salmon in Great Lakes

SALMON BOOK: The fall of salmon in the Great Lakes can be seen as a good thing ecologically although some people prefer native species, but the personal perspective and the local impact often are forgotten. We talk to a former Muskegon-based biologist who wrote a new book, The Salmon Capital of Michigan: The Rise and Fall of a Great Lakes Fishery, which tells that story from the perspective of Rogers City. We also hear from an MSU fisheries expert. By Shealyn Paulis. FOR ALPENA, ALCONA, MIDLAND, MONROE, ST. IGNACE, BAY MILLS, SAULT STE. MARIE, MARQUETTE, IRON MOUNTAIN, CHEBOYGAN, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, LUDINGTON, TRAVERSE CITY, LEELANAU, OCEANA COUNTY, HOLLAND AND ALL POINTS.

Some want Michigan to regulate septic tanks to protect water quality 

SEPTIC: Environmental groups are again pushing the Legislature to adopt a statewide sanitary code that would include mandatory inspections of septic systems. Leaking systems can contaminate groundwater, lakes and rivers, causing health problems and deterring water-related recreation. Sponsors include lawmakers from East Grand Rapids, Troy, Detroit, Holt, Walker, St. Joseph and Livonia. We talk to the Michigan Environmental Council, Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council and a Montmorency County homeowner with a septic tank. By Elijah Taub. FOR MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, MONTMORENCY, ALPENA, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, CHEBOYGAN, DETROIT, GREENVILLE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, FOWLERVILLE, STURGIS, THREE RIVERS AND ALL POINTS.

Sen. Rosemary Bayer, D-West Bloomfield, is cosponsoring a bill to empower the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to regulate new chemicals in water.

Michigan hasn’t updated list of dangerous toxins in nearly 20 years. That might change

TOXINS: The state has been stymied in adding new toxic chemicals to the list of those it can regulate in Michigan waters. Lawmakers from West Bloomfield and Northfield Township want to restore that authority to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. We hear from EGLE, the Farm Bureau and the Michigan Environmental Council. By Theo Scheer. FOR MICHIGAN FARM NEWS, DETROIT, PLANET DETROIT, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS AND ALL POINTS.

The Dickinson County Road Commission paves a road with a rubber-modified asphalt that uses recycled tires.

Thousands of tires hitting the roads may end up in them

TIRES: Michigan may have a sustainable answer, at least in part, to fixing its roads: asphalt made from recycled rubber tires. A partnership among state regulators, Michigan Tech and county road commissions is looking to reduce the piles of used tires. State grants support such efforts. We hear from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, a Muskegon official and a Michigan Tech expert. By Anna Barnes. FOR IRON MOUNTAIN, BAY MILLS, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, ST. IGNACE, LUDINGTON AND ALL POINTS.

The Smart Lake Erie Watershed Initiative’s buoys are retrieved in the winter and redeployed in the spring to prevent damage to the sensors.

Smart buoys help brace Great Lakes for environmental challenges

SMART BUOYS: Lake Erie is the first Great Lake getting connected to the internet with a series of offshore “smart” buoys, which provides invaluable data to researchers and anglers. Plans are to extend the technology to other Great Lakes. Michigan TechUniversity and Lake Superior State are part of the collaboration. By Daniel Schoenherr. FOR MONROE, SAULT STE. MARIE, MARQUETTE, ST. IGNACE, ALPENA, ALCONA, CHEBOYGAN, TRAVERSE CITY, PETOSKEY, HARBOR SPRINGS, LEELANAU, OCEANA COUNTY, LUDINGTON, HOLLAND, PLANET DETROIT, IRON MOUNTAIN AND ALL POINTS.

Genevieve Fox, far right, and other journalists tour the Carmeuse Lime Manufacturing Plant in River Rogue, and hear Simone Sagovic, the project manager at the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition, speak about health problems of people living nearby.

Reporting on the environment is a tough job

ENVIRONMENTAL FESTIVAL: The Great Lakes Environmental Festival will take place in Manistee in April. We talked to environmental journalist Genevieve Fox, who will speak at the festival and the University of Detroit Mercy professor who organized the event. By Clara Lincolnhol. FOR LUDINGTON, PLANET DETROIT, DETROIT, MICHIGAN FARM NEWS AND ALL POINTS.