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: Porcine Gut Models in Nutrition Research - Dr. Li-Hsuan Chen

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Li-Hsuan Chen, postdoc researcher at Aarhus University, discusses how porcine intestinal cell lines and organoids can help study the impact of nutrition on gut health. He explains how in vivo piglet trials identify diet-driven shifts in microbiota and metabolites, while in vitro models allow researchers to test specific metabolites, barrier function, immune markers, and future organ-on-chip systems before moving back to animal studies. Listen now on all major platforms!

"In vitro models can reduce early animal use by helping researchers screen nutritional candidates before moving back to in vivo trials."

Meet the guest: Dr. Li-Hsuan Chen / li-hsuan-chen-9a95a7279 is a postdoc researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark. Research focuses on porcine gut health, host-microbe interactions, cell lines, and organoids, with PhD work at Aarhus University studying how dietary protein and amino acid levels shape gut microbiota, microbial metabolites, and intestinal epithelial responses. Learn more from Dr. Li-Hsuan Chen on The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, available on all major platforms.