Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow discussed regional food systems, the 2023 Farm Bill, and market opportunities for Michigan farmers — all while touring Eastern Market’s Shed Two.
In Detroit Tuesday, Vilsack said Michigan farmers and producers will continue to receive the necessary assistance to help them produce “the amazing array and diversity of what is showcased here at Eastern Market.”
Assistance, for example, in the expansion of domestic fertilizer production. Two possible Michigan projects — Scenic View Dairy in Fennville and Michigan Potash Company LLC in Hersey — will create a competitive economy while lowering fertilizer prices, according to USDA, which more than doubled between 2021 and 2022.
The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program received more than 350 applications for a pot of $500 million. An additional $400 million is available for 2023.
Other opportunities can be found in the expansion of regional food processing.
“Director (Tim Boring), we have partnered with your department and will continue to do so,” Vilsack said. “We are excited about the opportunities we have provided to the department through the Resilient Infrastructure Grant program that hopefully will allow additional processing of non-meat and poultry to take place perhaps here at Eastern Market but certainly across the state of Michigan.”
In January, the USDA announced $1.5 million to improve meat processing capacity at Michigan Turkey Producers.
Opportunities like this won’t exist without passage of another farm bill, Stabenow said.
Every five years, Congress must authorize the farm bill, with the current one set to expire at the end of September. Priorities for Michigan farmers include federal crop insurance and commodity program funding, adequate USDA staffing, and support for specialty crop research.
“I'm hopeful we're going to have this done by the end of the year,” Stabenow told Michigan Farm News.
“It never quite hits the date. You'll usually end up with a short-term extension. We'll see, but we're working on it very, very hard, and we're going to put together a bipartisan farm bill in the Senate. It's going to be a little bit more challenging in the House of Representatives.”
Source: michiganfarmnews.com
Categories: Michigan, Government & Policy, Livestock, Dairy Cattle, Poultry