USDA Announces Over $22 Million in Mich. Rural Clean Energy Grants — But May Have to Rush Them

Nov 18, 2024

By Tracy Samilton

The USDA has announced more than $256 million in loans and grants for clean energy projects in 40 states.

Michigan farms and rural businesses will get more than $22 million — nearly 9% percent of the announced total — if the grants come through.

Sixty-nine rural businesses and farms in the state will get grants, ranging from, for example, $1 million for solar panels at the Devereax Saw Mill in Ionia County, to roughly $10,000 to help the Blue Ridge Blueberry Farm in St. Clair County upgrade its lighting and irrigation equipment.

Many of the grants are for solar arrays and roof mounted solar systems for dairy, hog, and other types of agricultural businesses.

That the grants come from the Inflation Reduction Act makes them not a complete certainty at this point.

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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.