Agriculture

More farms up north mean opportunity, development

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By EDITH ZHOU
Capital News Service
LANSING – More farming opportunities have come to northern Michigan this year because of climate changes and global warming, agriculture experts say. According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Michigan is home to 10 million acres of farmland, but only 10 percent is in the northern parts. Department Director Jamie Clover Adams said there are additional farming opportunities in the north (both the Upper Peninsula and the northern Lower Peninsula) and that there is a trend of more acres being farmed in those regions. “In theory that would mostly be rooted in climate change enabling a longer growing season for areas in northern Michigan,” Jeremy  Nagel, the media relations specialist for the Michigan Farm Bureau, said. Nagel said, “Agriculture up there is mostly hay, some small grains, potatoes, beef cattle and dairy.

Agriculture

Young farmers struggle to buy Michigan farmland

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By ANJANA SCHROEDER
Capital News Service
LANSING – Young farmers don’t always have the opportunity to buy or rent suitable land nor have the capital to acquire enough land to be profitable, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Educational programs help young farmers face these challenges. Tom Nugent, director of field operations for Michigan Farm Bureau, said its Young Farmers program, started in 1935, is designed to give beginners a solid foundation for a future in farming. The program consists of 18-35 year-olds but new farmers older than 35 are able to participate, Nugent said. The USDA defines a young farmer as one with 10 years or less experience operating farms.
Ryan Vanderwal of Lake City went through Farm Bureau’s Young Farmer program and now owns his own dairy supply company, Star City IBA.

Agriculture

A dozen Michigan organizations receive specialty crop grants

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By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – Managing bees and saving cucumbers from disease are just two of the topics being studied in recent specialty crop grants. This October in Michigan the federal government awarded grants to a dozen food and agriculture organizations for projects that include improving fruit production, promoting cleaner soil and studying crop pollination. The $1.3 million is divided among 12 recipients, including the Michigan Vegetable Council in Erie, Michigan Farm Bureau in Lansing, Lakeshore Environmental Inc. in Grand Haven and Michigan State University in East Lansing. These organizations and their projects were selected by the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to receive the federal grants. The department is in the process of developing an additional regional state grant program to further support such organizations and their food and agricultural research, said Jamie Clover Adams, the department director.

Agriculture

Ag industry hopes to grow high-tech workers

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By YANJIE WANG
Capital News Service
LANSING– Michigan agriculture is struggling to find qualified workers to fill positions at all levels, and one challenge is informing potential employees that modern agriculture is a high-tech industry in need of people with the right skills, according to the Michigan Agri-Business Association. At an egg factory, a robot counts how many eggs each chicken has laid. A computer detects the purity of each egg, and checks for cracks. In a feed mill, a computer ensures that trucks arrive in order to load proper amount of mixed feeds for delivery to farms across the state. At a dairy farm, a computer calculates how much milk cows can produce each day by recognizing unique IDs on their tags.

Agriculture

Mixed results for Michigan soybean crop

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By EDITH ZHOU
Capital News Service
LANSING – Like corn and apples, Michigan’s soybeans have been hit hard by the drought and extreme hot weather. “We are facing a 20 to 30 percent reduction of soybeans altogether compared to normal years,” said Tim Boring, research director of the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee in Frankenmuth. According to figures from the committee, Michigan ranks 12th among nation’s 31 soybean-producing states. Nearly 2 million acres are planted annually in Michigan. The economic impact of soybean farming in 2011 was approximately $1.25 billion.

Agriculture

Poor apple crop hits workers, growers

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By LAUREN GIBBONS
Capital News Service
LANSING — As apple growers statewide struggle to make up for losses, experts say the economic ramifications of one of the toughest crop years in history could have negative long-term effect. Last spring, Michigan’s orchards were devastated by a series of weather anomalies that caused many trees to bloom weeks ahead of normal, causing the fragile blooms to die in the frosts that followed. Growers still are harvesting the crop, but estimates indicate they’ll oreap about 3 million bushels of apples statewide — millions below the average 26 million, Michigan Apple Committee Executive Director Diane Smith said. The crop has decimated an industry normally worth about $120 million a year. Taking into account losses incurred by suppliers, workers and chemical providers, the loss is even more devastating, said Amy Irish-Brown, an MSU Extension educator specializing in commercial tree fruit in Southwest Michigan.

Agriculture

Incentives could encourage farmers to cut greenhouse gas emissions

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By MATTHEW HALL
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan farmers who cut their fertilizer use could help reduce greenhouse gases. And if done through a new emissions trading program, they could get other industries to pay them to do it without harming crop yields. The method encourages farmers to lower emissions of nitrous oxide from fertilizer. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas linked to human-induced global warming. “It’s a carrot rather than a stick,” said Adam Diamant, technical executive at the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., which developed the method with Michigan State University scientists.

Business & Economy

Workplace deaths dip; most still preventable

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By JENNIFER CHEN
Capital News Service
LANSING – Slightly fewer workers died in the state last year than in 2010, according to the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Michigan State University. But most of them could have been prevented, said Kenneth Rosenman, director of the division. “Workplace deaths are almost always avoidable, and there is no reason we shouldn’t be seeing a decrease in deaths.”
In 2011, the construction industry had the most deaths, followed by agriculture. Overall, the number of workplace deaths stayed relatively stable in 2011, when 141 workers died on the job compared with 145 in 2010. Work-related fatal injuries occurred in 43 of the state’s 83 counties in 2010.

Agriculture

As weather warms, corn will be grown up north

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By WEI YU
Capital News Service
LANSING – Climate change would influence the volatility of corn prices more than government energy policy or changing oil prices, a new study by researchers from Stanford and Purdue universities shows. The study suggests that frequent heat waves will cause a sharp price lift unless heat-tolerant varieties are developed or the geographic concentration of corn production shifts. That means Michigan’s Corn Belt could move north into the Northern Lower Peninsular and the Upper Peninsula. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, corn is the second top agricultural commodity in Michigan. The top five counties growing corn are Huron, Lenawee, Saginaw, Cass and Sanilac, according to Michigan Agricultural Statistics.

Agriculture

Farmers markets expand services as demand for local produce grows

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By PATRICK HOWARD
Capital News Service
LANSING— The demand for fresh, local produce has boosted a statewide uptick in the number of farmers markets. And a state grant program aims at ensuring low-income communities don’t miss out on such opportunities. Katharine Czarnecki, community programs manager at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC), the agency that provides the grants, said farmers markets benefit both job creation and health and create social bonds that help communities. Czarnecki said the agency developed the Farm to Food grant program in 2010 to help three areas: urban development, agricultural infrastructure and a “passive solar system loan fund” used to construct “hoop houses” that can grow vegetables year-round.