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Displaying items tagged: Michigan Farm Bureau

Sunday, 17 January 2021 18:36

Trade policy, labor availability among key agriculture issues in 2021

As an industry that bounced back relatively quickly after the initial shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture in Michigan and across the U.S. faces key issues that will shape its fate in 2021, experts say.

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Sunday, 08 November 2020 16:13

Farmers navigate shifting supply and demand equation

Jeff VanderWerff is one of the rare professionals whose day-to-day operations have remained virtually unchanged throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Sunday, 26 April 2020 17:22

Foodservice disruptions create crisis for farmers

As the new coronavirus spreads throughout the Midwest and people’s behaviors change as a result, Michigan’s turkey farms are struggling to stay afloat. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness

Sunday, 19 April 2020 15:12

Garden centers, greenhouses focus on survival amid COVID-19 shutdown

Like most non-essential businesses in the state, many garden centers and greenhouses in West Michigan have been forced to close as part of continuing efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Friday, 03 April 2020 04:36

State issues new environmental regulations for Michigan’s largest livestock farms

The state has tightened environmental restrictions on Michigan’s largest livestock farms. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Monday, 23 March 2020 14:02

Food and ag workers considered ‘essential’ under Whitmer’s stay-home order

Michigan’s food and agriculture industries and related workers are considered as “essential critical infrastructure” to ensure continued food security across the state under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-home executive order. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness


Sunday, 01 March 2020 18:40

Feds to investigate USDA aid to farmers after Senate finds ‘deep inequities’

Following a request from Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the U.S. Government Accountability Office will investigate the integrity of the U.S. Department of Agriculture aid to farmers affected by the U.S. trade war with China. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Sunday, 22 December 2019 12:40

Food Biz Outlook: Embattled ag industry hopes trade stabilizes in 2020

News that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement appears to be headed toward ratification comes as a positive for farmers across the country and especially in Michigan. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Sunday, 22 December 2019 09:14

Michigan dairy farmer hopes for best as pricing environment improves

Dairy producers are struggling to make ends meet, and many dairy farmers have lost money for months or even several years straight. Jem-Lot Dairy’s Stephanie Schafer, who is also a district director with the Michigan Farm Bureau, said the situation is largely the result of low milk prices. Her farm keeps 300 dairy cows in Clinton County. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness

Sunday, 15 September 2019 12:30

Food/ag interests push for caution, common standards in PFAS testing

As the hunt for PFAS contamination has expanded into crops and livestock, it has revealed new food safety concerns related to the limited state-led testing system and lax federal standards. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Saturday, 14 September 2019 06:30

Farmland prices show stability, despite economic concerns

Agricultural land values have remained relatively stable throughout most regions in Michigan, even though many farmers continue to face serious headwinds. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Sunday, 01 September 2019 11:53

Lawmaker cites benefits of issuing licenses to undocumented immigrants

State Sen. Stephanie Chang says granting state driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants is as much of an issue of economics and public health as it is about immigration.

Published in Economic Development


Sunday, 18 August 2019 17:15

Fatal grain elevator incidents a stark reminder to region’s farmers

The death count from frightful incidents involving enclosed grain elevators is on the rise — a stark reminder to West Michigan’s agricultural industry of the dangers of grain handling.

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Sunday, 07 July 2019 19:00

Soggy fields hamper Michigan farmers

Time has run out for about 10 percent of crops in the state, as Michigan farmers face delays related to one of the wettest spring seasons on record. 

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Sunday, 23 June 2019 19:00

Whitmer policy allows commercial solar projects on farmland preservation property

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this month reversed a policy from the Snyder administration that blocked commercial solar energy projects on property enrolled in the state’s farmland preservation program.

Published in Food/Agribusiness

Friday, 21 June 2019 12:03

$15 million in emergency loans allocated to farmers amid historic rainfall

LANSING — Michigan lawmakers are allocating $15 million to a low-interest loan program to help farmers wrestling with crop losses associated with historic rainfall this spring.

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Sunday, 14 April 2019 20:31

Water rules could test Michigan’s ‘no stricter than federal’ law

A new state law preventing environmental regulations from being stricter than the federal government’s could see a test under the Trump administration’s proposal to scale back national water standards. The proposal to redefine the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule would scale back regulations adopted by the Obama administration that set which waters receive protection under the Clean Water Act.

Published in Economic Development
Sunday, 03 March 2019 21:13

Growers amping up contingency plans for climate change

Discussions about global warming often concern what could happen in the future, but West Michigan fruit growers are adapting to changes in the climate that have already been happening for decades. Jeff VanderWerff, a fourth-generation grower at Sparta-based VanderWerff Farms LLC, said he and his brother, Joe VanderWerff, spend more time than they care to admit watching changing climate patterns.

Published in Food/Agribusiness

Sunday, 06 January 2019 21:15

‘HUGE WIN’: What the 2018 Farm Bill means for Michigan’s ag industry

Passage of the 2018 Farm Bill provides much-needed certainty and support — and not just for Michigan farmers. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, commonly known as the Farm Bill, is a multi-faceted piece of legislation that affects Michigan’s farmers and farm workers, equipment manufacturers, food processing businesses, retailers, and many other people across the state.

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Saturday, 15 September 2018 21:49

Agriculture Roundtable: West Michigan farmers remain optimistic, despite a flurry of industry challenges

Not even depressed commodity prices, stalled trade talks, labor constraints and climate change can stanch farmers’ optimism.

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Saturday, 21 July 2018 13:17

Feeling Blue - Facing worker shortage, farmers find flaws with visa process, say reforms needed

HOLLAND — A farmworker shortage and low commodity prices are forcing West Michigan blueberries farmers to alter how they approach their harvests.

Published in Food/Agribusiness

Sunday, 24 June 2018 14:00

Prevailing wage, online gambling among Legislature’s finished, unfinished business

June was a busy month for the Michigan Legislature.

Published in Economic Development
Saturday, 09 June 2018 00:58

Michigan farmers welcome opportunity to grow industrial hemp

An often overlooked component of the ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in Michigan would create a commercial market for pot’s more utilitarian relative: hemp.

Published in Food/Agribusiness
Saturday, 09 June 2018 00:50

Prolonged pricing pressures dim outlook for many in Michigan’s dairy industry

Paul Pyle is no stranger to the turmoil facing Michigan dairy farmers.

So far in 2018, his Zeeland-based Pyle Dairy Farm Inc. is experiencing its worst year on record. With little funds available to replace dilapidated equipment, Pyle’s often left “duct-taping stuff together” to keep his farm operations afloat.

Published in Food/Agribusiness

Saturday, 09 June 2018 00:34

Bayer to divest Muskegon facility to settle antitrust action

MUSKEGON — The path to closing the $66 billion mega-merger of Bayer AG and Monsanto Co. included the divestiture of chemical manufacturing operations in West Michigan.

Published in Manufacturing
Sunday, 24 December 2017 18:21

Michigan agriculture sector watches NAFTA discussions closely

One of the biggest issues Carl Bednarski expects to deal with in 2018 is the national Farm Bill, which will address agricultural concerns in infrastructure, crop insurance and exports. The president of the Michigan Farm Bureau discussed what legislation will affect the agricultural community the most.

Published in Economic Development
Sunday, 01 October 2017 17:04

While commodity prices hamper farmers, food processors expand in Michigan

As farmers across the state struggle to turn a profit in an era of depressed commodity prices, one aspect of agribusiness — food processing — continues to grow in West Michigan.

Published in Manufacturing

Sunday, 28 May 2017 16:07

Nonprofit uses its for-profit services firm to help farmers find workers

LANSING — Farmers in Michigan are becoming increasingly dependent on guest workers to fill a void left by migrant laborers who are opting out of coming to the state to harvest crops.

Published in Nonprofits
Sunday, 28 May 2017 15:51

Reinvigorating an industry: Company pushes to restart potash production in Michigan

In 2013, the discovery of a large deposit of high-quality potash in Michigan touched off a wave of public attention.

Published in Manufacturing
Sunday, 02 October 2016 14:10

As Bayer-Monsanto deal materializes, West Michigan farmers brace for consolidation

major player in Big Agriculture is poised to expand its influence in the industry.

Published in Food/Agribusiness

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