Agriculture

State pushes to recruit farm workers

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By JENNIFER CHEN
Capital News Service
LANSING – The state is urging farmers to use its recruitment system to find migrant and seasonal labor to harvest such crops as cucumbers, cherries and strawberries. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Workforce Development Agency are promoting what they say is the underused Agricultural Recruitment System. The push to find workers through centralized job postings comes despite the state’s high jobless rate. The number of unemployed people in the state is 431,490, which is 0.8 percent higher than the national rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But agricultural employment specialists say the farmers are still seeking seasonal labor.

Agriculture

Farm exports rising, new markets sought

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By WEI YU
Capital News Service
LANSING – With a new South Korea Free Trade Agreement, state officials are pushing hard for more Michigan-based companies to sell their products abroad. The pact eliminated all duties such as tariffs and import quotas and virtually all other restrictions on trade between the two countries. The most recent figures show Michigan ranks eighteenth in the United States for agricultural exports, with a total value of $1.75 billion. It is the seventh-largest exporting state for fruit and processed fruit products and the ninth-largest exporter of vegetables and vegetable products, according to the state Department of Agriculture. More than one-third of Michigan agricultural commodities are exported each year.

Business & Economy

Bill would clarify property tax exemptions for state farmers

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By SHANNAN O’NEIL
Capital News Service
LANSING-Improving farmland could be cheaper for famers if personal property tax exemptions expand. Rep Kevin Daley, R-Lum, introduced a bill that the house has passed to exempt tiling equipment from personal property taxes. Farm machinery is already exempt from personal property taxes, but this bill clarifies that it includes tiling. The tax on tiling equipment is inconsistently administered around the state. The current personal property tax definition of exemptions for agriculture does not specifically mention tiling, creating different interpretations.