MDARD Announces Farm Innovation Grant Opportunity To Help Michigan’s Food And Agriculture Industry Address Climate Change

Sep 13, 2023

By Chelsea Lewis-Parisio

The Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD) is now accepting applications for a one-time farm innovation grant program. The Farm Innovation Grant Program is designed to help develop and support innovative solutions to real, immediate, and future problems facing Michigan’s food and agriculture industry.

“Governor Whitmer made it clear in her budget the importance and value our food and agriculture businesses bring to Michigan and her commitment to investing in it continuing as a major economic driver. With the significant challenges we’re facing due to climate change and unpredictable weather patterns, we must adapt through innovative and creative practices to continue growing,” said MDARD Director Tim Boring. “Climate resiliency practices are a long-term version of what agriculture needs to look like in Michigan and how we respond to short and long-term challenges. These grant funds are an excellent step forward into the future of our state’s $104.7 billion food and agriculture industry.”

MDARD is accepting proposals intended to develop innovative solutions for farms, agriculture processing and supply chain problems facing Michigan’s food and agricultural industry in the following priority areas:

Climate Smart Practices – Practices and technologies that work to mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, sequestering carbon, or by other various ways of combating climate change leading to climate resiliency for Michigan’s food and agriculture industry.
Supply Chain Resiliency – Equipment enhancements, new technologies, or novel research that strengthens Michigan’s food and agriculture supply chain.
Food Processing and Farm Production Automation – Research and development of technologies for automation of agricultural production and food processing.
Other – Consideration will be extended to applications that present compelling approaches to address other aspects of farm innovation, with particular focus on rural resiliency improvements.

The maximum grant award eligible is $450,000 per proposal. The farm innovation proposals will be evaluated through a competitive selection process. Applications for grant funds must outline how the project will impact and produce measurable innovation outcomes for Michigan’s food and agriculture industry.

Source : michigan.gov

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.