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Michigan building markets for climate-smart grains
Michigan farmers can still enroll in the state’s climate-smart commodity grant program focused on establishing markets for food-grade grains.
Star of the West Sustainability Director Lisa Woodke tells Brownfield 25,000 acres of wheat, dry beans, and food-grade oats and soybeans are eligible for the five-year project.
“Part of the grant is sharing the data on these fields with these specific crops, and then part of the grant is receiving a soil health assessment,” she explains. “If you’ve been doing the things all along and your soil health assessment is high, you’ll be paid for that as well.”
Woodke says marketing climate-smart commodities to end users has been an ongoing process.
“The consumers have to be willing to pay for it for the food companies to add it to our bottom line and for us to add it to the bottom line of the growers growing it,” she says. “It’s a fine line or a bit of a dance between all the parties involved to figure out what that price looks like.”
She says anyone in the state can participate but crops need to be delivered to a Star of the West facility.
Star of the West also has a climate-smart advisor on staff to help farmers with data management and find climate opportunities for additional crops.
AUDIO: Lisa Woodke, Star of the West
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