News

MSU report assesses specialty crop loss repercussions

A new report finds Michigan is losing specialty crops at much higher rates than other areas of the U.S.

Michigan State University Extension’s Chris Bardenhagen tells Brownfield the loss of production is a national food security issue.

“We can grow a lot of different types of crops, and if we lose our infrastructure, if we lose that ability, it’s really, really hard to get that stuff back,” he stresses.

“It took decades to build. It serves the rest the United States, but particularly the Upper Midwest, the South and Southeast, and some to the West. That’s a very important piece of being able to feed ourselves.”

Specialty crop production over the past 15 years has declined by 10 percent which Bardenhagen says has mostly been associated with significant increases in labor costs.

“If we lose crops, we’re probably going to lose them for good, and that could lead to the unraveling of losing some other crops that are adjacent,” he shares.

Researchers have modeled several scenarios if current trends continue.

“The main word that I heard the most times was devastating,” he says.

“People said that it would just be kind of hard to fathom, and just really have a hard hit to the communities.”

He says Michigan’s specialty crop supply chain contributes $6.3 billion dollars the state’s economy annually.