Tart cherry insurance program may arrive next year

By JUSTINE McGUIRE
Capital News Service
LANSING – Last year’s tart cherry loss has inspired a flurry of activity to explore federal crop insurance to protect Michigan growers. Wayne Wood, president of the Michigan Farm Bureau, said, “The reason they didn’t have crop insurance before is that it’s such a small industry, and small companies couldn’t make the investment and do the research to justify the policy.”
According to the Risk Management Agency, the majority of specialty crops – like tart cherries – in the state aren’t eligible for insurance. They include asparagus, cucumbers, squash, Christmas trees, sweet corn, strawberries, honey, celery and maple syrup. “And quite frankly, when you haven’t had an event like this since 1945, are you really going to buy insurance?” Wood said. “The demand was low and the demand is high today, as you would expect.”
Many specialty crops do have insurance programs, like apples, blueberries, potatoes, grapes, onions, peaches and tomatoes.

Kid power behind push for cherries as state fruit

By JUSTINE McGUIRE
Capital News Service
LANSING — Pucker up, Michiganders. Tart cherries could be the newest state symbol. The journey to honor the tart cherry began several years ago in Wendy Gravlin’s fourth-grade class at Gallimore Elementary School in Canton. “Even fourth-graders have a voice,” she told her students before they wrote letters to state officials asking them to make tart cherries the official fruit of Michigan. While learning about state symbols, the students noticed that Michigan hadn’t designated a fruit, unlike some of its neighbors.

Some (not all) state wines heading for China, Asia

By EDITH ZHOU
Capital News Service
LANSING – Significant growth in the wine-grape industry and wide availability of cherries have created a boost in Michigan wine production and its appearance in other states and even other countries. “The industry is growing fast—nine wineries were added to our list last year,” said Karel Bush, promotion specialist at the Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Council. According to Bush, the state has more than 150 wineries with more than 100 of them using home-grown fruits. And half are located along the Lake Michigan shoreline from Traverse City to Southwest Michigan. Bush said both the quality and the quantity of this year’s wine is very good.