Michigan secures policies to help benefit specialty crops
Policy 111, School & Government Food Purchasing Programs, and 239, National Farm Policy, now reflect the priorities and best interests of Michigan’s specialty crop sector, which produces countless fresh and processed fruit and vegetable products.
“These changes give Michigan producers a greater opportunity to sell more produce through different marketing channels,” said Ben LaCross, a Leelanau County cherry producer who represents District 9 on the Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) Board of Directors and was among MFB’s voting delegation at AFBF.
“Michigan came here and made sure our specialty crop industry’s voice would remain prominent in future farm bill discussions,” said John Kran, MFB’s national legislative counsel. “Whether that’s guaranteeing access to research or increasing our marketing opportunities, we’re committed to keeping our fruit and vegetable growers’ priorities on the national agenda.”
Concern was also shared over the right to repair—referring to the widening gaps between increasingly technical equipment and the humans operating it—turned out to be common ground Michigan shared with state Farm Bureaus across the nation.
Farmers in all parts of the country are seeing fewer options for repairing their own equipment, and concern is mounting about third-party access to the proprietary and farm-specific information that accumulates in onboard computers.
“Overall we’re excited about technology, but we’re starting to see some unanticipated side effects—some growing pains—related to that technology with respect to data access and ownership.”
source: farmeradvance.com
