Michigan Annual State Report

In 2018 a report was issued from MSU AgBioResearch and MSU Extension surveys gauging the leading issues facing Field Crop Agriculture in Michigan, MSUE-Issues-Identification-Field-Crops-Priorities-Report.  Conducting research and educational programs to combat diseases and pests that threaten the health of plants, animals, and people was the third priority, preceded by Assisting farmers in agricultural production and profitability (number 1) and Preparing today's youth for tomorrow's jobs (number 2). Based on this input, the MSUE Agriculture and Agribusiness Institute (AABI) established a Pest Resistance Issue Working Group. Dean Baas is a member of AABI and the chair of this group. The includes Extension Educators and Specialists with expertise in pest management.

While this initiative has gotten off to a slow start, this working group will be used to develop a sustainable pest management program that will be supported through Michigan SARE PDP funds to train educators on sustainable pest management practices in the coming year(s).

In 2018, the Michigan Food and Farming Systems (MIFF) non-profit organization was contracted to conduct a series of listening session and interviews around the state to identify The State of Local Food in Michigan: Challenges and Opportunities for Beginning Farmers. The subsequent report, MIFFS_SARE_Beginning-Farmer-Challenges-and-Opportunities, provided insight into the leading issues facing beginning farmers. Highlights include: Land; Financial; Markets; Education; Labor; Crop Insurance; Cultural Barriers; Equipment; Water; Regulations and Policy; Pests; Transportation; Legal Advice; and Environmental. They requested support for: Small-Scale Farming Specific Resources; Consultative Services; Holistic Approach; Case Studies; Simple Reference Sheets; and Connections and Networks. Topics requested include: Business Planning; Marketing; Funding; Scaling Up; Soil Health; Disease and Pest Management; Water; Laws and Regulations; Land Access; Dealing with Stress; Consumer Education; and Information about SARE. MIFFS stated that, "The farmers that we spoke with were very appreciative of this project’s approach to go directly to them for their input. Many farmers feel that the education that is available to them is developed through a very top down approach, so they thought it was refreshing to share their experience and have their voices heard. Thank you for this opportunity to have so many wonderful and insightful conversations with farmers and agricultural educators from around the state." The full report referenced above has additional information that may be of interest to others working on local foods and beginning farmer issues and programs.

MSUE Beginning Farmer Webinar Series

The Beginning Farmer Webinar Series has been in existence since 2012 and has provided live webinar sessions that have been recorded and archived. Initially developed with the assistance of a Michigan SARE PDP mini-grant, this program continues to have impact as it moved to being self-funded. The webinar sessions are designed to assist attendees with production practices, marketing, and business management. 

To-date, a total of 68 presenters have shared information with 1,420 registered participants through 88 webinars. Registration for over 9,500 webinar views was received. The presenters consist of MSUE-AABI educators (29), MSUE-GMI educators (10), faculty from MSU departments (14), staff from MSU departments (6), ag agencies and organizations (4) and private farmers (5). All webinars, with exception of a few with technical flaws, are posted on the MSU Extension Beginning Farmer Webinar Series webpage and currently available for viewing without registration or charge. All of the archived webinars are available at https://www.canr.msu.edu/beginning_farmer_webinar_series/. 

2017 Series Impacts

The 2017 series consisted of nine webinars featuring nine MSU Extension speakers and one faculty member from Purdue University.  The series was promoted through MSU Extension local channels, MSU ANR Communications and eXtension.  A total of 334 people registered for 1,927 webinar views.  Participants included 284 Michigan residents from 71 counties, 46 people from other states (NY, OH, PA, VA, and WA), and 4 people from other countries (Canada, Zimbabwe, and Turkey). The series evaluation can be view here, Post-series-eval-2017-MSUE-Beginning-Farmer-Webinar-Series-FINAL.

2018 Series Impacts

The 2018 series consisted of 15 webinars featuring 15 MSU Extension speakers and 2 outside MSU speakers.  The series was promoted through MSU Extension local channels, MSU ANR Communications and eXtension.  A total of 303 people registered this year.  Participants included 256 Michigan residents from 61 counties, 14 people from other states, and 7 people from other countries. The series evaluation can be view here, Post-series-eval-2018-MSUE-Beginning-Farmer-Webinar-Series-Final.

2017 Travel Scholarships

Community Food Systems Conference

• Attendees representing various organizations had the opportunity to discuss issue
• Making contact with new resources working similar objectives as ours and continuing dialogue to share info

Midwest Cover Crops Council Annual Meeting

• Support 4 Extension educators to attend the conference in Grand Rapids, MI
• Increased knowledge of cover crops and soil health
• Improve knowledge/skills concerning CC management practices
• Information was used for:
  • Answer client questions
  • Individual consultation
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Use in newsletters and/or newspaper articles/blog post/radio shows
  • Incorporate new ideas and information into regular programming
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health

• Increased knowledge of cover crops and soil health
• Improve knowledge/skills concerning CC management practices
• Networking with farmers and agency personal
• increased ability to answer client questions
• increased knowledge to give individual consultations
• develop new contacts and partners for work
• new materials for newsletters/blogs/radio
• new materials to deliver new programming on topic area

2017 Mini-Grants

Organic Reporting Session

• 42 participants, 25 of which were farmers
• Research priorities for organic farming were identified by farmers
• Cover crops of various scales and types of farmers in MI was identified as largest need.

Great Lakes Forage and Grazing Conference

• 100 participants, mainly farmers
• participants developed new understanding of how small grain and alternative forage crop haylage can be incorporated into northern corn silage rotations to serve dual purpose as cover crops and dairy feed.
• they learned new methods for making hay-in-a-day, offering opportunities to save money by improving forage quality and reduce weather losses in high rainfall areas like Michigan

WISEWOMEN participants at the Family Farms Conference

• 12 women participated in this conference
• Increased knowledge of farming concepts to then be put to use by improving their own small farms

MSU Vegetable Team Summer In-service

• 15 individuals attended this in-service
• Toured organic and conventional vegetable production operations.
• Toured ag supplier and produce brokers
• Exposed to challenges and problems facing entire scope of the vegetable production and marketing chain
• By looking from a holistic perspective, it gave them an idea at how, who and where in the chain they can provide help to the industry

MOFFA Organic Intensives 2017

• 32 attended, over half were farmers
• participants left with a significantly deeper knowledge and understanding of the topic area
• participants left with specific ideas for how to implement this new knowledge in their operations

2018 Travel Scholarships

SARE Our Farms Our Futures Conference

• Partial travel support was provided to 12 participants in the conference from Michigan
• Of the 12 participants, 11 represented minority/underserved farmers
• The greatest benefits from the conference was the opportunity to network and sustainable agriculture information and resources that were presented

2018 Midwest Cover Crops Council Annual Meeting

• 4 Extension educators and 2 specialists were supported to attend the conference in Fargo, North Dakota
• Outcomes learned were specific agronomic practices, such as seeding rates and time of planting
• Gained knowledge of the roles that cover crops play in suppressing weeds and disease
• Learned the importance of cover crops in nutrient retention and scavenging
• Interaction with fellow professional was particularly meaningful
• Increased knowledge on cover crops specifically integration and benefits
• Answer client questions
• Information was used for:
  • Individual consultation
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Use in newsletters and/or newspaper articles/blog post/radio shows
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

2018 Soil Health Nexus Meeting and North American Manure Expo

• 3 Extension educators were supported to attend the conference in Brookings, SD
• Broadened knowledge of manure applications and regulations
• Made contacts both in extension and in the private sector to contact with other questions
• Learn how other states are retaining manure nutrients on the farm for better crop utilization and how different manures affect crop and soil health.
• Learned what soil health parameters should we be testing for; what labs can farmers send their samples in to get accurate results; new technologies in animal waste storage and handling; and current research on animal waste and soil health
• Information was used for:
  • Answer client questions
  • Individual consultation
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Use in newsletters and/or newspaper articles/blog post/radio shows
  • Incorporate new ideas and information into regular programming
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

Upper Peninsula Forage Field Day – Speaker Travel

• Brought Mike Buis from Chatham, ON to Chatham, MI to speak to local farmers and agribusiness in the UP about his cropping system including tips and tricks for cover cropping
• The event was held to update local growers on research at the station, learn about soil health and alternative forage cropping systems
• 26 famer and agribusiness representatives attended the field day
• Information was used for:
  • Answer client questions
  • Individual consultation
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Use in newsletters and/or newspaper articles/blog post/radio shows
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

2018 NACAA AM/PIC

• 1 Extension educator was supported to attend the conference in Chattanooga, TN
• Attended the Sustainable Agriculture, SARE Reading the Farm super seminar and the required tour
• Visited local farms to implement the principles learned in the "Reading the Farm" seminar by taking an in depth look at the farms and make recommendations to make the farm form sustainable
• Gained more knowledge on sustainable practices and applying them on farm
• Expanded network of individuals that can be resources in future programing
• Information was used for:
  • Answer client questions
  • Individual consultation
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Use in newsletters and/or newspaper articles/blog post/radio shows
  • Incorporate new ideas and information into regular programming
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

NC3 One Water Network - Climate Change Preconference

• 1 Extension Educator was supported to attend the conference in Indianapolis, IN
• Learned about climate change communication and how climate change and farming interact
• Increased knowledge on climate change impacts, specifically interpretation of reports, what we can do in agriculture and how to communicate
• Information was used for:
  • Answer client questions
  • Individual consultation
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Use in newsletters and/or newspaper articles/blog post/radio shows
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

American Community Gardening Association's 39th Annual Conference

• 1 Educator from the non-profit Garden Project of the Lansing Food Bank was supported to attend the conference in Atlanta, GA
• Learn about conservation and sustainability initiatives for community gardens and urban farm systems
• Visited metro urban farms and gardens that were using pollinator habitat to increase green space and create community among their very diverse citizens
• Toured many large community gardens across the metro Atlanta area and met others working toward sustaining the community movement
• Many of these sites were gardened by former refugees from many different countries that were using a huge variety of growing practices that they brought from their home countries
• Learned how other organizations work in their community to serve more vulnerable populations in a meaningful way and also learn from them
• Information was used for:
  • Individual consultation
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

Sustainable Agronomy Conference

• 1 educator was supported to attend the conference in Madison, WI
• Attendees included a broad cross section of agricultural stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector agronomists, farmers, Extension, and university researchers
• Learned about how new precision technologies have the potential to dramatically improve nutrient, weed, and pest management in cropping systems
• It was also interesting to hear about new programs, such as Field to Market, that seek to establish some sustainability standards for the industry
• Revealing to hear the different perspectives expressed by various organizations, including industry and university researchers
• This conference was a unique opportunity to hear from such a diverse group and see areas of agreement and areas of disagreement
• Information was used for:
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

Urban Food Systems Symposium

• 1 Extension educator was supported to attend the conference in Minneapolis, MN
• Made connections to practitioners and innovative urban food systems models in other regions, primarily other urban midwestern areas
• Gathered a lot of information on innovative programming aiming to support urban agriculture scenes and address food access barriers in urban communities
• Learned a lot about how other regions coordinate small farmers to create bigger impact on food access and access new collective marketing avenues (like institutional, grocery, and restaurant sales)
• Opportunity to connect with folks in similar urban contexts that have different approaches to addressing barriers to urban land access for agricultural purposes
• Information was used for:
  • Answer client questions
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Use in newsletters and/or newspaper articles/blog post/radio shows

Growing Innovations Conference

• 1 educator from the non-profit South East Michigan Producers Association was supported to attend the conference in Las Vegas, NV
• This new industry event is designed for agriculture producers and provide them with the latest technologies available to enhance their operations and ongoing innovations to further improve agriculture throughout the world
• Learned there is a large gap between agriculture technology and small farm knowledge and practice
• Promoting innovations to small farmers will remain a challenge, especially with concerns of financial investment
• We are to develop a program to improve knowledge of technologies as well as demonstrations on small farms
• Information was used for:
  • Answer client questions
  • Develop new contacts and partners for work
  • Deliver new programming on this topic

2018 Mini-Grants

MOFFA Organic Intensives 2018

• MSU partnered with the Michigan Organic Food and Farm Alliance to provide the Organic Intensives workshop with mini-grant support from the MI SARE PDP program
• Organic Intensives provided a full-day, intensive program in a single topic area. In 2018 the topics were Diverse Grain Options for Farms and Homesteads, Organic Transplant Production: Secure a Stellar Season with Successful Starts, and Small to Medium Scale Livestock for the Integrated Farm
• Hours of training for each topic were: Grains 6.5 hours, Transplants 4 hours, Livestock 6.5 hours, with additional on-farm/experiential learning of 2.5 hours in Transplants
• Participants left with a significantly deeper knowledge and understanding of the topic area, and have specific ideas for how to implement this new knowledge in their operations
• There were 85 participants including 6 - Cooperative Extension Service Field Staff (educators/agents), 1 – NRCS, 2 - Agriculture consultants/For-Profit, 2 - Non-Profit/Non-gov organization, 40 - Farmers/Ranchers and 34 Other
• Participants were asked to evaluate their experience at the end of the day, and 82% responded-68% of those in the small grains session, 85% in the transplants session, and 91% of those attending livestock
• Once again, participants overwhelmingly felt that their time was well spent and the most gratifying comment was "One of the most valuable educational experiences of my "
• The full program evaluation is available at MOFFA-Organic-Intensives-Report

Bay Mills Community College Farm Manager Professional Development

• To better serve Native American education, the MI SARE PDP program partnered with Bay Mills Community College (BMCC), a 1994 Land Grant Institution located in Brimley, Michigan
• One of the programming areas of focus of the BMCC Land Grant Department is sustainable agriculture and food systems; as such, the Land Grant Department manages BMCC’s Waishkey Bay Farm as a research, extension, and demonstration farm focusing on sustainable agriculture
• In the fall of 2017, a new Interim Farm Manager (Jeremy Sparks) was hired who lacked an official credential in sustainable agriculture
• To increase Jeremy’s abilities as the permanent Farm Manager, MI SARE provided partial support and he successfully completed the 2018 MSU Organic Farmer Training Program, from March 2018 through November 2018
• Jeremy completed 256 hours of group instruction/learning, 40 hours of on-farm/experiential learning, 37 hours of one-on-one contact and 50 hours of class assignments
• As a result of this SARE funding support, Bay Mills Community College's Waishkey Bay Farm now has a Farm Manager with a recognized sustainable agriculture credential
• The Farm Manager's capacity to manage and develop the farm, and facilitate educational programming, has been significantly increased as a result of his participation in the training program
• The Farm Manager over the past year has used this sustainable agriculture information in his programs and educational activities to reach 160 participants including Extension educators and field staff; State, Federal and Tribal Agencies; Tribal Farmers and Other interested parties

2018 MSU Vegetable Team Summer Inservice

• This inservice for Extension vegetable educators was to learn the problems facing small to large operations, and organic and conventional production systems and how Michigan State University research and extension activities could be tailored to help deal with these issues
• Participants toured several local vegetable operations of various sizes and production techniques
• The goal was to educate attendees on the problems these growers face and how we might be able to better assist in solving those problems
• 8 locations were visited, and the in-service provided 9 hours of on-farm/experiential learning and 6 hours of informal interaction with questions and answers
• There were 16 participants including 4 - Cooperative Extension Service Field Staff (educators/agents), 2 - Cooperative Extension Specialist/State Staff and 10 Other

WISEWOMAN Participants at Farm Conferences

• Supported WISEWOMAN Gardening participant to attend the Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference and the Family Farms Conference
• It was a great learning opportunity for gardeners and small farmers
• Goal of this mini-grant was to increase participant knowledge of sustainable gardening and farming concepts
• This knowledge would then be put to use by improving the sustainability of their own gardens or small farms, and educating others on these practices
• 6 WISEWOMAN participants attended the Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference and 3 WISEWOMAN participants attended the Michigan Family Farms Conference
• These women all live in areas in Michigan considered to food deserts and actively bring expertise and knowledge to local gardeners and small farmers in these areas