The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) awarded two Farm Innovation Grants designed to develop and support innovative solutions to real, immediate, and future farm problems facing Michigan’s food and agricultural industry.
"MDARD is focused on how we can best assist agriculture innovation while supporting our growing industry," said Acting Director Kathy Angerer. "Through our various grants, we can support businesses and increase economic development today while laying the groundwork for the future of food and agriculture."
The department received seven proposals with requests totaling more than $1.2 million. Of those, MDARD awarded the following two projects totaling $400,000 in awarded funding:
- $200,000 Improving climate resiliency and economic return of Michigan beef cattle by reducing feed use. - Michigan State University (East Lansing)
- $200,000 Improving irrigation efficiency in blueberry orchards using an IoT-based automatic smart irrigation system - Michigan State University (East Lansing)
The grant funds were established to develop innovative solutions for farm, agriculture processing, and supply chain problems facing the state’s food and agricultural industry in the following priority areas – Climate Smart Practices, Supply Chain Resiliency, Food Processing and Farm Production Automation, and Rural Resiliency. The proposals were evaluated through a competitive process.
For more information on our grant programs, visit https://www.michigan.gov/mdardgrants.
Categories: Michigan, Business