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Agricultural Climate Resiliency Initiative invests in long-term needs

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is establishing the Agricultural Climate Resiliency Program at Michigan State University.

MSU AgBioResearch Director George Smith tells Brownfield the initiative is a collaboration with the state’s major plant commodity organizations to address climate and water issues.

“These are long-term projects,” he says. “We can’t solve these problems in one year. What’s going to be critical to success is that there is recurring funding from the state of Michigan.”

The state’s 2024 fiscal year budget includes $1 million in recurring funds for faculty and Extension positions, as well as a one-time $5 million investment for a competitive grants program.

MSU Extension Director Quentin Tyler tells Brownfield stakeholder roundtables in recent years have helped identify where more resources are needed to support farming in the future.

“We did have these real candid conversations and broke down any silos that might have been present, or any barriers, and let folks be able to talk to us about their needs,” he says. “Out of those respective conversations came the idea of this climate resiliency piece.”

The program is expected to model Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs) which focuses on short-term plant commodity challenges.