MAES News
July 1, 2008
- MSU Part of First Michigan Center of Energy Excellence
- Safe Tomatoes Just a Click Away, Thanks To Michigan Marketmaker
- New Faculty Member
- "You Heard It Here First" -- New Educational Speaker Series Set For Ag Expo
- Field Days and Special Events
Michigan State University is partnering with the Mascoma Corporation and Michigan Technological University in the state's first Center of Energy Excellence, Gov. Granholm announced June 27.
Michigan State, Mascoma and Michigan Tech will be working with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and J.M. Longyear, a Marquette company that owns more than 65,000 acres of forestland in the Upper Peninsula, to develop the state's first cellulosic ethanol plant. The plant will be in Chippewa County, south of Sault Ste. Marie.
"Long before the current run-up in petroleum prices, we declared Michigan's intention to lead the nation in alternative energy production and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil," Granholm said. "Mascoma's next-generation biomass-to-ethanol technologies are integral to wide-scale ethanol production, and this plant will put Michigan on the leading edge of technology that will create good-paying jobs for Michigan citizens."
"At MSU, our research and development emphasis is on making renewable fuels from cellulose -- trees, stems and stalks that aren't food products," said Steve Pueppke, director of the MAES and MSU Office of Biobased Technologies. "Michigan State is delighted to collaborate with our colleagues at Michigan Tech and Mascoma to help create a bioeconomy that is based on the state's vast forest resources and develop a strong cellulosic biofuel industry."
Michigan State will provide expertise in pretreatment technology for cellulosic ethanol production and assistance with renewable energy crops that can be used by the plant's biorefinery. Michigan Tech will contribute its knowledge of sustainable forestry management practices and access to its automotive engineering labs for analysis of the biofuels produced.
Michigan is in a race with a firm in Georgia to open the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. The Massachusetts-based Mascoma Corporation announced its decision to locate a plant in Michigan last July.
Mascoma chose Michigan because of its vast, sustainable forests and other non-food agricultural materials, as well as the research expertise available at Michigan State and Michigan Tech.
Safe Tomatoes Just a Click Away, Thanks To Michigan Marketmaker
Despite the recent multistate Salmonella Saintpaul contamination of tomatoes, Michigan consumers can top summer salads and grilled hamburgers with safe, locally grown tomatoes.
Michigan tomatoes were declared safe from contamination by the Food and Drug Administration on June 13 and will come into season in the beginning of July, just in time for Fourth of July cookouts. Thanks to Michigan MarketMaker, a new online program for consumers available from the MSU Product Center, Michigan-grown tomatoes will be easy to find.
"Michigan MarketMaker allows consumers to find local tomato producers who sell at their farm or at farmers' markets," said Chris Peterson, MAES scientist and director of the MSU Product Center. "It also allows retailers such as grocery stores and restaurants to find producers who can supply their wholesale needs."
Michigan MarketMaker is available online at www.mimarketmaker.msu.edu. MarketMaker is a free, online networking program that uses mapping software and an extensive database to spotlight local resources and help sellers find the right markets for their products on the basis of demographics.
Since the contamination was discovered, many retailers and consumers have been concerned, removing all tomatoes from their homes, shelves or menus. Now retailers can check Michigan MarketMaker to find locally grown tomatoes to restock their shelves, and consumers can introduce their favorite tomato dishes back into their kitchens.
George McManus III, manager of the L.H. Piggott & Girls, Inc., Farm Market in Benton Harbor, said consumers are sure to get a fresher product when buying directly from farmers' or farm markets.
"Consumers can always be more assured of getting a safe product when it comes from close to home," McManus said. "It is more easily traced back to the producer. It spends less time in storage and shipping. It is fresher."
Michigan became the eighth state to implement the MarketMaker program when the MSU Product Center introduced the program in January. More than 300,000 business profiles are online, and nearly 5,000 farmer profiles are registered with MarketMaker. Michigan has nearly 37,000 registered business profiles and 210 farmer profiles.
"This situation with contaminated tomatoes is exactly why we introduced Michigan MarketMaker," Peterson said. "We are building a database of producers, farm markets, wineries and other businesses in our Michigan food supply chain to help consumers make local choices."
Funding for Michigan MarketMaker was provided by Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), Michigan's plant agriculture research initiative housed at MSU. Other funding partners are the Nowlin chair for consumer-responsive agriculture, Greenstone Farm Credit Services, the Southeast Michigan Food Systems Economic Partnership, the C.S. Mott chair for sustainable food systems, Michigan Food and Farming Systems and the Washtenaw County Agricultural Council. Information partners include MSU Extension, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Michigan Farm Bureau.
New Faculty Member
The MAES is pleased to welcome a new faculty member.
Jennifer Owen, was named assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife and large animal clinical sciences in June. Her current research focuses on the role that migrating birds play in the spread of zoonotic disease -- illnesses that can be transmitted from other vertebrate animals to humans -- particularly viruses borne by arthropods (e.g., mosquitoes and ticks). Owen is interested in how environmental and physiological stressors affect an animal's ability to mount effective immune responses and how that reduced immune response influences both the animal's susceptibility to disease and its ability to serve as acarrier and disperser for zoonotic pathogens. Her research program is beginning to explore the role of wild birds in the spread of avian influenza both at a local and a global scale.
Before coming to MSU, Owen spent four years as a postdoctoral research associate at University of Southern Mississippi (USM) on an NSF-funded project investigating the role of birds in the overwintering of both West Nile and eastern equine encephalitis viruses. She received her doctorate at USM in biological sciences in 2004 and her bachelor's in wildlife biology from University of Montana, Missoula in 1993.
"You Heard It Here First" -- New Educational Speaker Series Set For Ag Expo
Demonstrations of equipment and products, displays and educational exhibits have been mainstays of Ag
Expo since the event was launched 29 years ago. This year, a new component will be added to the show, set for July 15-17 on the MSU campus -- presentations by speakers in a new tent with the theme "You Heard It Here First."
The show will kick off July 15 with a 9 a.m. talk by MSU Extension educator Mike Staton about improving tractor fuel efficiency.
At 10:15 a.m., Michael Fraleigh, attorney and counselor-at-law for the Fraleigh Law Firm, P.L.L.C., will talk about issues related to farm transfers, including intergenerational transfers, meeting the needs of on-farm and off-farm children, ensuring the older generation has a sufficient cash flow without crippling the succeeding farm generation with debt, and protecting a farming operation from being split up in the event of a divorce.
The two succeeding presentations will focus on biofuels. At 11:30 a.m., a representative of the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan will discuss ethanol, and at 1 p.m., a representative from Crystal Flash will focus on biodiesel. Staton's fuel efficiency talk will be repeated at 2:15 p.m.
On July 16, Ag Expo visitors can attend a presentation about sprayer calibration and earn three restricted-use pesticide (RUP) applicator credits. That program will run from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The registration fee is $30 before the event or $35 on site. Register or learn more online or call Carolyn Randall in the MSU Pesticide Safety Education office at 517-353-5147.
The biodiesel presentation will be repeated at 1 p.m. July 16 and followed by a repeat of the transition planning talk at 2:15 p.m. and the tractor fuel efficiency talk at 3:30 p.m.
Visitors who don't catch the presentations on the previous days can plan to attend the show July 17 to hear the following topics addressed again:
- 9 a.m.: fuel efficiency in tractors.
- 10:15 a.m.: transitional planning for farms.
- 11:30 p.m.: ethanol.
- 1 p.m.: biodiesel.
- 2:15 p.m.: fuel efficiency in tractors.
Ag Expo features commercial farm equipment from throughout the Midwest and several Canadian provinces on the 35-acre main exhibition site and the 40-acre field demonstration area, as well as educational exhibits from several MSU colleges and departments.
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 15 and 16, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 17. Admission to the grounds and parking at Farm Lane and Mt. Hope Road are free. Because of the construction on Farm Lane, the Ag Expo parking area and grounds will be accessible only from Mt. Hope.
For more information about Ag Expo, call 800-366-7055 or visit www.agexpo.msu.edu.
Field Days and Special Events
A number of MAES field research stations will hold field days and open houses this summer to showcase research and demonstration projects. Scheduled field days are:
MSU Weed Tour
July 2
Plant Pathology Research Center
College Road, MSU South CampusUpper Peninsula Experiment Station Field Day: Focus on Energy
July 26
ChathamNorthwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station Open House
August 21
Traverse CityLake City Experiment Station Forage and Livestock Field Day
August 23
Lake City
