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Michigan Agriculture Advancement highlights conservation, niche markets and food-grade grain opportunities

A Michigan-based nonprofit is dedicated to fostering farmer networks that enhance farm profitability and stewardship for long-term resilience.

Julie Doll leads the Michigan Agriculture Advancement.

“We go after the early adopters of conservation, the early adopters of new markets and whatnot, with a goal to really learn from them and learn, how did you get to this place?” she shares. “Why did you start adopting this practice? What does it look like now?”

Doll tells Brownfield sometimes sharing farm failures can provide the most helpful insights.

“We can learn a lot from things that don’t go well on the farm or in the markets also,” she says. “And they’re always very gracious and humble and share what isn’t working for them.”

Organic farmer Mark Vollmar spoke about the impacts of canceled contracts during the group’s recent Underground Innovations event.

“They told me they wanted six truckloads of einkorn, so I grew 300 acres of einkorn,” he told Brownfield. “Then, they ended up only taking one, and I spent three years trying to peddle my einkorn to small buyers. You’ve got to be careful, especially in such a small niche market.”

Doll says there’s a real interest in the state to increase food-grade grain infrastructure to diversify crop rotations and improve farmer profitability. The group’s Food-Grade Grain Field Day on June 17 will dig into work underway.