Agriculture

Programs for beginning farmers on the rise

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — On average, the state’s farmers are 56 years old, according to Michigan Farm Bureau. But an interest in local and organic food might yield a younger, fresher crop of farmers. “It has a lot to do with people being awakened to the issue that the food system is broken and there are a lot of opportunities to fix it and also make a living,” said Lindsey Scalera, the Canton-based co-chair of the Michigan Young Farmers Coalition. “It’s tough. People’s farms do fail.

Environment

Small watercraft account for many distress calls

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — Although a number of water rescues and searches in Lake Michigan have made headlines this year, the turbulence of the waters has been average, a weather official said. Citing the number of small craft advisories issued this year compared to years past, Lake Michigan hasn’t been more hazardous, said Bob Dukesherer, marine program manager for the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. But that doesn’t mean Lake Michigan has been calm. “I don’t think there’s any increase in bad weather,” Dukesherer said. “People get in trouble because it’s a giant lake and we deal with quite a bit of rough weather through the Midwest.

Agriculture

Grants boost hunter access in northern Lower Peninsula

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — In portions of the northern Lower Peninsula next year, farmers in need of relief from hungry deer and hunters in search of turf might mutually benefit from an expanded state land-access initiative. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) initiative, called the Hunting Access Program, would open more private land to hunters in the northern Lower Peninsula with a new federal grant of nearly $1 million. Among the counties included are Alcona, Montmorency, Emmet, Cheboygan, Antrim, Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Manistee, Mason, Lake and Wexford. Currently, only landowners in Southern Michigan, mid-Michigan and the eastern Upper Peninsula who want to be paid to open their property for hunting are eligible, said Mike Parker, the DNR biologist spearheading the program. Landowners set restrictions on the type of hunting and can earn up to $25 per acre, depending on the type of hunting allowed and habitat quality, according to DNR.

Agriculture

State's ag exports to China skyrocket

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — In the past five years, more and more of Michigan’s dairy products and prepared fruits and vegetables have been on their way to China, according to export data from Euromonitor International Ltd. From 2010 to 2014, the dollar value of dairy product exports to China skyrocketed 688 percent, according to the London-based economic analysis firm. In that same time period, the dollar value of prepared fruit and vegetable exports, which include dried tart cherries, rose almost four-fold. Chris Wolf, a professor of agricultural, food and resource economics at Michigan State University, said U.S. dairy products — specifically powdered milk — took hold in the Chinese market following that country’s baby formula scandal in 2008. The result of the scandal was a loss of confidence in domestic dairy products, Wolf said.

Education

Schools see need to address LGBT issues

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — Over the past several years, Kim Phillips-Knope’s role in assisting Michigan high school staff address lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues has changed. Phillips-Knope, who has worked with educators and administrators through a program called “A Silent Crisis” for the past decade, said the program began with informing them about the state’s LGBT population and the risk of self-harm and then moved onto ensuring that those students are safe and thrive in public high schools. Now educators understand that the LGBT population exists and is at risk, but “What do we need to do to make sure they’re safe in our schools?” said Phillips-Knope, a Michigan Department of Education special projects consultant. According to the 2013 Michigan Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the 8.7 percent of high school students who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual were 4.6 times more likely to attempt suicide, three times more likely to be threatened or injured with a weapon on school grounds in the past 12 months and 2.7 times more likely to miss at least one day in the past 30 because of safety concerns. That shift in awareness on the part of educators is reflected in the growing number of participants in the program, along with the demand for an advanced course, she said.

Business & Economy

Business owners say minimum wage could push up prices

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — Some Michigan small businesses that pay employees more than the state’s minimum wage say the recent increase could drive costs up for their customers. It rose from $7.40 to $8.15 on Sept. 1 in the first of four phases leading to $9.20 in 2018 for workers who don’t get tips. Mike Valle, owner of Valle’s Village Market in Marquette, said the increase could translate into a price-hike domino effect, even though he is already paying employees more. “I can’t say right now, but I’m sure it’s going to have an impact on the prices,” Valle said.

Government

Counties struggle after losing court revenue

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — A Michigan Supreme Court decision cutting a major source of funding for local courts could cost some counties more than $1 million, unless the Legislature reinstates their ability to assess court costs in criminal cases. The decision struck down a long-standing practice that reduced local courts’ reliance on taxpayers after the Supreme Court concluded that they lack the legal authority to collect the money. The estimated yearly loss ranges from $1.5 million in Berrien County to $45,000 in Missaukee County, according to the Michigan Association of Counties. Manistee County Treasurer Russell Pomeroy said the loss of funding places him, and other local officials, in uncertainty as they reconfigure their budgets and wait for legislative action. “We’re just hoping that the Legislature will come up with some sort of fix because that’s a large hit for us to take all in one year,” Pomeroy said.