Growers are generally well aware of what's going on in their own fields. But, what about what's going on the other side of the state or in neighboring states? It can be raining in one area and dry just five miles down the road. Pests and diseases sometimes develop in patterns, and sometimes not. To get a sampling of what is happening in the Midwest, Michigan Farmer, Indiana Prairie Farmer and Ohio Farmer editors have teamed up and lured in, or more accurately roped in, a couple of…

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Donned with my winter coat and three blankets wrapped around every exposed part of my body, last Saturday I watched as my daughter's softball team proceeded to snow blow and shovel the field they were about to play on. Last year at this time I was sporting a tank top and a pretty decent tan. Ah… it's Michigan. Love it or hate it, one thing is certain, there's complete uncertainty when it comes to the weather. After a parched 2012 summer, most farmers were rejoicing at…

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Few would argue Michigan's Pure Michigan campaign has been nothing but a tremendous boon for the state. With Tim Allen's soothing commentaries and those scenes of tranquility followed by coffee shops and kids frolicking on Michigan's beaches, who wouldn't want to visit our Great Lakes state? The Michigan legislature has spent millions of dollars on billboards, pamphlets, and radio and television advertising. And, if you've been to Chicago lately, I'm sure…

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Incredible, edible eggs – in addition to our scrambled, over-easy and poached breakfast favorites, they also provide the glue that keeps our meatballs from becoming mush and our cookies from crumbling. It's irreplaceable… or is it? What if we could take the hen out of egg production? I realize that's a risky proposition for an editor of a farm publication, but when we're talking projections of about 9 billion people on this planet by 2050, it's an intriguing…

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Last year around this time I was in Nashville at the Commodity Classic listening to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack rail on how we desperately need a new farm bill. At that time there looked to be hope, as the Senate, led by Michigan's own Sen. Debbie Stabenow, was making strides to develop a program that gave farmers tools to reduce risk, increase trade opportunities, protect the environment and grow yields for both food and bio-products. Most of you know the story. The…

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Just about any conference I've been to in the last year or so has had at least one speaker make reference to the looming population expansion. Global population is expected to rise by 50% by the year 2050 with an additional 3 billion new mouths to feed. Most of this growth in global population will take place in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia. Food demands are not only growing, they are also changing as the growth of disposable income in countries such as China and India, will…

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The 2012 growing season was the best of times, and the worst of times, depending on where you are located in the state. An assembly of three growers on a panel underlined that dynamic during Michigan State University Extension's Growing Michigan Agriculture Conference in Lansing, Jan. 24. Yields were bouncing around more than a dozen five-year-old boys in an inflated cage. Devastation and celebration were in some cases defined by only a few miles. And in some cases, it was defined by…

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I see it more and more these days, people seem to enjoy hitching a ride on the wave of negativity. When something sounds a foul or even the least bit suspicious, whether it be true or not, people are more than willing to join in the parade of crusaders to spread the news of some kind of wrong. The latest Facebook fallacy I recently came across was a smear tactic to undermine one of my ranch-dipping partners – baby carrots. How dare they bash bata carotene goodness. It’s one…

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