futuresMICHIGAN

AGRICULTURALEXPERIMENT

STATION

Fall 2004 Vol. 22 No.3

2 | FUTURES

As one of the state’s largest industries,agriculture contributes about $37 billionannually to Michigan’s economy andemploys about 500,000 people. Michigan issecond only to California in the diversearray of crops grown and the state is the topproducer of 11 commodities.

Tourism, though a smaller industry, addsabout $15 billion each year and employsabout 160,000 people. Much of the state’stourism revolves around Michigan’s stun-ning natural resources — the Great Lakes,miles of streams and rivers, and acres offorests, wetlands and other natural areas.

The challenges facing Michigan agricul-ture and natural resources are increasinglycomplex and diverse. In this issue ofFutures, we highlight just a portion of theresearch the MAES is supporting to enhancethe profitability of agriculture and naturalresources industries. This includes basicresearch in both the plant and animal sciences to improve disease resistance andreduce dependency on chemicals, as well asresearch to identify and develop value-added opportunities for agriculture and natural resources producers in the state.

When Project GREEEN — GeneratingResearch and Extension to meet Economicand Environmental Needs — was conceivedin 1995, its goal was to make Michigan agri-cultural more competitive. Today, nearly 10years after its inception, nearly everyoneinvolved hails the state’s plant initiative as amodel of successful cooperation betweenthe MAES, MSU Extension, the MichiganDepartment of Agriculture, Michigan FarmBureau, and Michigan plant-based com-modities and industries. By finding rapid,integrated ways to address insect, disease,weather, regulatory and economic factors tobenefit everyone involved with plant agri-culture, Project GREEEN has helped theagriculture industry, the economy and theenvironment.

Other MAES research focuses specificallyon the Michigan wine industry. Once seenas far behind California (never mind France)in product and production, Michigan winesare now internationally recognized. Thenumber of wineries in the state has doubled

in the past 10 years, and acreage and valueof the industry have increased tremen-dously. Nearly every county along the LakeMichigan shoreline is home to a winery; inaddition to agriculture, the wineries give aboost to tourism with bed and breakfastinns, restaurants and recreation such ashorseback riding on site.

Animal agriculture and its associatedproducts — milk, meat, wool, eggs, cheeseand butter — account for a significantportion of Michigan’s economy. MAESresearch on new methods to combat dis-eases; selecting cows with desirable traitssuch as high milk production, high fertilityand longevity in the herd; and new ways toadd value to the raw products, such as newtypes of dairy or meat products, is helpingto improve productivity for the state’sanimal producers.

Serving as a one-stop shop for agricul-tural and natural resources entrepreneurs,the MSU Product Center for Agriculture andNatural Resources helps clients nurturetheir ideas for businesses, products orservices, and turn them into profitableoperations. Supported in part by the MAES,the Product Center connects its clients withMichigan State’s vast array of knowledgeand expertise and helps business dreamsturn into reality.

We hope you enjoy this issue of Futuresand that it helps you understand moreabout the MAES and the research it funds. If you have comments or questions orwould like to subscribe to Futures (it’s free!),send correspondence to Futures Editor, 109Agriculture Hall, Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824-1039, or send an e-mail to depolo@msu.edu.

For the most current information aboutthe MAES, I invite you to subscribe to thefree MAES e-mail newsletter. Sign up by vis-iting the MAES Web site at www.maes.msu.edu/news.htm. Scroll to the bottom of thepage and complete the subscription form.

For his gracious assistance with thecover photograph, I would like to thank BenDarling, assistant director of the MSU LandManagement Office.

::: Jamie DePolo

Enhancing Profitability inAgriculture and Natural Resources

futures

Fall 2004 | 3

MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION ::: Fall 2004 Vol. 22 No.3

26 International Ties Boost Animal ProductionResearchMAES scientists are collaborating with researchers inIreland to enhance animal agriculture profitability inMichigan.

29 Meet MAES Acting Director John C. Baker

30 Research in the News

35 Directory

All photography by Kurt Stepnitz, University Relations photographer,except where noted.

Cover photoilllustration by Christine Altese.

4 Making Business Dreams a RealityThe MSU Product Center for Agriculture and NaturalResources helps clients nurture their ideas forbusinesses, products or services and turn them intoprofitable operations.

12 A GREEENER MichiganAlmost 10 years after its initiation, Project GREEEN— Generating Research and Extension to meetEconomic and Environmental Needs — hasimproved Michigan’s plant agriculture industries, theeconomy and the environment.

20 Merging Agriculture, Science and ArtWith some help from MAES scientists, the Michiganwine industry is becoming internationally respectedfor its vintages and its cultivation techniques.

12

Jamie DePolo, Editor

Christine Altese, Art Director

Gary Lemme, Associate Director

Doreen Woodward, Assistant Director

Geoff Koch, Writer

Futures is published quarterly by the

Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. To receive Futures free of

charge write to Futures Editor, 109 Agriculture Hall, MSU, East Lansing,

MI 48824, or call (517) 355-0123.

Permission to reprint material in this issue is granted, providing the

meaning is not changed. Credit given to the publication as the source of

the material is appreciated. Use of trade names is for identification only

and does not imply endorsement or criticism of the products.

20

26

4 | FUTURES

he MSU Product Center for Agriculture andNatural Resources began as a gleam in ChrisPeterson’s eye in 1998. An MAES agricultural eco-nomics researcher who holds the Homer NowlinChair for Consumer-Responsive Agriculture,Peterson is known for his research on agribusi-ness, marketing and strategic management.

“At the end of 1998, I wrote a proposal forProject GREEEN [Generating Research andExtension to meet Economic and EnvironmentalNeeds, the Michigan Plant Initiative] fundingthat called for doing a series of studies on howbest to position plant agriculture in the food sys-tem, with an eye toward value-added and spe-cialty goods,” he recalled. “Agriculture is the sec-ond largest industry in the state, but many ruralareas continue to be economically depressed.

Productive farmland is being converted to non-agricultural use. Converting agribusiness from acommodity orientation [selling dry beans to aprocessor, for example] to a differentiated prod-uct orientation [producing a value-added beandip from the beans and keeping the processingmoney in the state, for example] will help revital-ize Michigan agriculture.”

The proposal wasn’t funded, but it was highlyrated.

“Ian [Gray, former MAES director] proposedthat we think of it as a futuring center,” Petersonsaid.

He and his colleagues wrote and rewrote plan-ning documents and budgets as the project keptevolving. In February 2003, Gray; Maggie Bethel,MSU Extension (MSUE) director; and Jeff

Making Business Dreams

T

gThe MSU Product Center for

Agriculture and Natural Resources

helps clients nurture their ideas

for businesses, products or

services and turn them into

profitable operations.

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Armstrong, dean of the College of Agriculture andNatural Resources, signed a memorandum ofagreement to fund the MSU Product Center forAgriculture and Natural Resources for five years andnamed Peterson its director.

The center’s goal is to improve economic oppor-tunities in the Michigan agriculture, food and natu-ral resource sectors, and its experts are available toassist fledgling entrepreneurs and established com-panies. Acting as a single doorway to MichiganState’s vast collection of knowledge and expertise,the center helps guide clients through the phases ofconceptualizing, planning and actually starting abusiness.

“There are a lot of ideas that should be aban-doned early,” Peterson said, “because they’re notgoing to be successful. Many times people justaren’t aware of everything that is involved with cre-ating a new product. Our counselors help clientscome to grips with the realities of product develop-ment and marketing. Then the client makes thedecision to go forward or not.”

Peterson said the center views a decision to haltthe process just as successful as one that goes for-ward.

“Otherwise a lot of time, money and effort arewasted on something that isn’t going to work,” heexplained. “Avoiding those losses is a good businessdecision.”

“About 90 percent of new businesses fail,” addedTom Kalchik, associate director of the center. “Wewant to help people do better planning so more ofthem are successful.”

In addition to assisting clients with businessplanning — carried out in the client services part ofthe Product Center — the center also assists clientswith strategic marketing and trains them in entre-preneurship.

The Strategic Marketing Institute does market

research and writes reports and working papersthat Product Center clients can use when evaluat-ing the uniqueness or marketability of their prod-ucts. Some reports are written because clientsrequest the information; others are written becausethe researchers, led by William Knudson, productmarket economist for the center, are being proac-tive and seeking new markets for Michigan prod-ucts. Recent reports include “The Market forOrganic and Fortified Eggs,” “The EdamameMarket,” “The Pet Food Market” and “Spending onFood: Implications for Michigan Agriculture.”

The most recent component of the ProductCenter, the Innovation Academy, provides executive

a Realityg

Chris Peterson, Dianne Novak and Tom Kalchik (left to right) help clients startor expand their businesses in the MSU Product Center for Agriculture andNatural Resources.

6 | FUTURES

leadership education for entrepreneurs and thosewishing to be entrepreneurs through classes and in-service and mentoring programs. Barb Fails, associ-ate professor of horticulture, has been tapped tooversee the academy.

“Executive leadership education is abouttraining people to be entrepreneurs,” Petersonexplained. “We have to build a pipeline of entre-preneurs; it’s not good to have ideas without aperson to make them a reality. It’s also good to havepeople understand what it takes to be an entre-preneur. It is critical that this is part of the ProductCenter.”

So You Want to Start a Business....Clients find the Product Center through a variety

of routes — MSUE contacts, the center’s Web site orreferrals from MSU experts. Once contact is made,center staff members begin a three-phase processwith clients that lead them through developing aninitial business concept to making the final deci-sion about start-up.

“When people first call or visit us, we discusstheir ideas and have them write down their ideas ascompletely as they can,” said Dianne Novak, projectservices coordinator at the center. “Sometimes peo-ple have a hard time articulating what they want todo or need, so writing everything down is a goodfirst step. Then we all have the same information.”

Kalchik and Novak estimated that about 80 per-cent of the prospective clients can’t write downtheir ideas and decide to hold off on pursuing theirbusiness ideas. Which, as Peterson explained, is stilla success because no money or additional time isspent on an unpromising concept.

“For those that can write things down, we con-nect them with one of the center’s network of inno-vation counselors,” Kalchik explained. “We try toconnect a client with a counselor who is geograph-ically close or has expertise in the type of businessor product in which the client is interested.”

There are currently 28 innovation counselors in

the state, most of them MSUE county agents whohave taken special entrepreneurship training andhave entrepreneurial experience and are devoting aportion of their time to work with center clients.

The counselor and the client review the writtenbusiness idea and the counselor helps finalize theconcept, narrow the focus and identify a market forthe product or service.

“A counselor asks a client a number of questionsto refine and define the concept,” Kalchik said.“Why is this product unique? Why would people beinterested in it? Where is the funding coming fromand how much money do you need? Who are yourcompetitors? How will the product be marketed?The answers to all these questions form the outlinefor the client’s business plan.”

The Product Center uses a three-phase process to help its clients start their businesses. After each phase, the clientdecides whether to move forward.

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This is phase 1 of the center’s three-phaseprocess. These services are provided to clients at nocharge. As clients move on through the process andbecome more serious about their start-up, fees arecharged.

“We have a commitment form that we ask clientsto fill out,” Novak said. “We ask them to commit tospending $500 to $2,000 on education and resourcesto complete their business plan. Sometimes weintroduce clients to private consultants — thosecosts are negotiated between the client and the con-sultant.”

“We are also aware that confidentiality is impor-tant to our clients,” Kalchik said. “We worked withthe MSU Office of Intellectual Property to develop aconfidentiality agreement for our clients.”

For phase 2, the center prefers that its clientstake a 10-week entrepreneurship training coursecalled NxLevel. The cost is $250, but grant money isavailable for those who may not be able to afford it.

“It’s a business plan class,” Novak explained. “Weencourage our clients to take the class, but we alsohave workbooks and computer programs thatclients can use at home if they are unable to attendthe class.”

“At the end of the class the clients have a basicbusiness plan,” Kalchik said. “It’s been honed andcritiqued. At this point, we set up meetings for ourclients with professional consultants or MSUexperts who can help them with their specificneeds.”

“When their business plan comes out of theclass, it’s usually very strong, but there may be oneor two questions,” Novak added. “The clients havevery specialized requests for information, such as arecipe for dough or information on advertising. I tryto link them to MSU expertise in these areas. Beingin the College of Agriculture and Natural Resourceshas been very helpful; everyone has been very gen-erous with their time and expertise.”

Novak maintains and builds contacts through-out MSU, however, to ensure that center clients

have access to all the assistance they need.“All the faculty members involved have been

thrilled to help,” Peterson added. “We’ve receivedpositive responses from everyone we’ve contacted.”

Product Center staff members and counselorsalso have access to reports produced by the MintelInternational Group. These reports detail consumerpreferences and demographics and provide othermarket research for all major consumer goods cate-gories in the United States. Center staff membersalso use the Mintel Global New Products Databaseto track product launches. For example, Novak said,if another company has just launched a blueberry-flavored soda pop, which is the product one of herclients is working on, she can quickly alert herclient.

When the initial business plan is finalized, theclient again makes the decision to move forward orstop. If going ahead, phase 3 consists of feasibilitystudies and evaluation, then start-up if the first twocomponents are successful. On average, accordingto Kalchik, most clients take about two years tomove through the center’s three phases.

“But it depends on the product and where theclient is in planning. If they come to us with a strongbusiness plan and just need some specialized help,it can be a shorter process,” he said.

In its first year, the Product Center has assisted80 clients in some way, and center staff membersare watching several begin operations as 2004winds down. The Chene-Ferry Farmers Market, inDetroit, and DaisyDell Farm and Market, in St.Johns, are two of the first clients to open their doorsfor business.

Revitalizing Agriculture,Revitalizing Detroit

On the corner of Chene and Ferry, in the eastside of Detroit, about a quarter mile away from theGeneral Motors Poletown Plant, an agricultural rev-olution is quietly taking place. What was once aderelict, long-closed farmers-market-turned-recy-

“Sometimes people have a hard time articulatingwhat they want to do or need, so writing everythingdown is a good first step.”

The Product Center is assisting the MichiganCoalition of Black Farmers to open the newChene-Ferry Farmers Market in Detroit. In thephoto at right, Mike Score (far right), MSUEagricultural agent in Washtenaw County, whoalso serves as an innovation counselor for theProduct Center, discusses plans for the marketwith (right to left) Fontaine Sheffey, Ralph King,Rich Hall (in hat) and Herman McCord, all of the MCBF. Score also serves as an adviser to the Chene-Ferry Market Board of Directors andworks with the group to resolve any issues that come up.

8 | FUTURES

Fall 2004 | 9

cling-center has been refurbished and is starting toreturn to its former self — a lively farmers market,offering neighborhood residents a place to meet,buy fresh produce and plants, and reconnect withMichigan’s agricultural heritage.

The culmination of years of work by the Detroit-based Michigan Coalition of Black Farmers(MCBF), the new Chene-Ferry Farmers Marketopened in September and ultimately aims to fea-ture fruits, vegetables and horticultural products

from growers in Washtenaw and Lenawee countiesat 40 vendor stalls.

“Henry Reed, the president of the MCBF, felt thatthis community needed a community-based groupto bring food to the community,” said Ralph King,executive director of the MCBF and long-time asso-ciate of Reed’s. “Besides providing fresh food, themarket is also an opportunity to educate peopleabout agriculture, health and nutrition, as well asenlighten them about all the jobs involved in agri-culture — trucking, storage, packaging, retailing.Agriculture is not just about the food delivery sys-tem — it has a role in many jobs and careers. If themarket is successful, I think it can lead a renais-sance in the area.”

Reed started the MCBF 14 years ago to advocatefor Michigan agriculture and expand agriculture’sability to meet the needs of urban communities bylinking urban consumers with rural producers. Oneneed not be a farmer to join.

Opened in 1929, the original Chene-FerryFarmers Market was a fixture for more than 40years in the blue-collar Polish neighborhood thatsurrounded it. The market closed in the 1970s andthe building was used as a recycling collection cen-ter until it closed for good in 1988. When thePoletown Plant opened in 1981, many residentshad to move to make way for the construction andthe neighborhood gradually deteriorated. Untilnow, the community’s only source for grocerieswithin a seven-mile radius was a convenience storenear the market.

“The city of Detroit has four major chain grocery

stores to serve the entire population,” King said.“There is a coalition of independent grocery stores.But when we were doing research on marketing themarket, we found there was a lot of food insecurity.”

The Wayne County MSUE office has no agricul-tural agent. But Reed had heard good things aboutthe work of Mike Score, Washtenaw County MSUEagricultural agent, who is also an innovation coun-selor with the MSU Product Center. (Score’s grand-parents grew up near the market.) Once the con-

nection was made, the project took off.“Hank Reed had heard of my work and asked me

to help them,” Score recalled. “I introduced them tothe Product Center and walked them through theprocess of writing a business plan.”

Score also serves as an adviser to the Chene-Ferry Market Board of Directors and works with thegroup to resolve any issues that arise, such as apply-ing for zoning variances. Score also helped theMCBF connect with some of the farmers who areproviding the produce that the market is selling, aswell as offering entrepreneurship classes and train-ing the market’s vendors.

“Whenever they hit a barrier, I encourage them,keep them focused and help them come up withsolutions,” Score said.

“Working with MSU has been a boon for us,”King said. “It’s been a great opportunity to workwith Mike Score and Tom Kalchik. They gave us theconfidence to move forward and commit to thisproject. I doubt we could have done it withoutthem. MSU has been a valuable partner to us. I giveall the kudos in the world to the MSU ProductCenter.”

Fulfilling a Dairy Product DreamRick Batora and his wife, Karen, both come from

dairy backgrounds and are still part of her family’s4,000-cow operation. (Karen is the daughter ofDuane Green, and their multigenerational familyfarm, Green Meadow Farms, just south of Elsie, isone of Michigan’s largest dairy operations.) Rickand Karen wanted to take the next step in dairy

“We want to help people do better planning so more of them are successful.”

Rick and Karen Batora (left) tookthe next step in dairy farming andopened their own market, DaisyDellFarm and Market, in June 2004.The market sells cheese, ice creamand other dairy products, and alsooffers visitors a chance to learnabout the dairy industry.

10 | FUTURES

Fall 2004 | 11

farming and open their own market to sell cheese,ice cream and other dairy products, as well as offervisitors a chance to see how food is made and learnabout the dairy industry.

“The rest of the family didn’t want to go in thatdirection, so we decided to do it on our own,” Rickexplained.

On June 28, after assistance from the MSUProduct Center, the Batoras realized their visionand opened the DaisyDell Farm and Market in St.Johns. The market sells farmstead cheeses and ice

cream and includes a deli and café with a bakerythat sells coffee, soups and sandwiches.

“We’re focused on dairy products,” Rickexplained. “Our cheeses are made by farmers orcome from places where the farmer has control ofthe raw product. All our milk and ice cream aremade from BST-free cows.”

Next spring the Batoras plan to build a cheeseprocessing plant and begin making their owncheeses. The DaisyDell owner-managers also planto add their own cows to the operation next yearand offer visitors a chance to get up close and per-sonal with the animals in a petting zoo.

The Batoras, MSU alumni, were atypical ProductCenter clients because they had already writtentheir business plan when they met with center staffmembers for the first time.

“Karen was taking an MSUE entrepreneurshipclass in Clinton County,” Rick said. “In the class, sheheard about the MSU Product Center. We hadalready written a first draft of our marketing andbusiness plan, but Marilyn Thelen [agriculture andnatural resources MSUE agent in Clinton County,who also works as a Product Center counselor]helped us go through our plan and get more infor-mation and find the avenues to finish it.”

The Product Center also connected the Batoraswith John Partridge, MSU associate professor of

food science, who specializes in dairy productdevelopment.

“Dr. Partridge was very helpful,” Rick said. “Headvised us on the type and size of equipment need-ed for an operation our size. He was a super guy andoffered to help us at any time. He told us that whenwe were ready to make new cheeses, he was avail-able to help us. We have an on-going relationshipwith him and it’s been great.

“The MSU Product Center has helped us a lot,”he continued. “They have more resources now than

when they first started — we kind of grew uptogether. Karen took the entrepreneurship class inJanuary 2004 and the center was starting to helpclients. We’ve benefited from its new resources.”

Thelen now is helping the Batoras make connec-tions in the MSU Department of Advertising foradvice on getting the word out about the marketand all its offerings.

“Our passion is agriculture education,” Rick said.“We want to present agriculture in a positive man-ner and show people where their food comes from.It used to be that your grandpa had a farm and kidswould visit and learn about agriculture. Now mostpeople live in the city and have never touched acow. As school starts, we plan to do open housesand education classes for elementary school kids toshow them how ice cream, butter and cheese aremade.”

::: Jamie DePolo

“Working with MSU has been a boon for us. They gave us the confidence to move forward and commit to this project.”

12 | FUTURES

GREEENERA

Almost 10 years after its initiation, Project GREEEN —

Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and

Environmental Needs — has improved Michigan’s plant

agriculture industries, the economy and the environment.

In 1995, a group of Michigan agriculturalleaders sat down together at the Ag Summitmeeting to discuss how Michigan plant agri-culture could be more competitive. At thetable were Ben Kudwa, executive director ofthe Michigan Potato Commission (MPC);

Harry Foster, then executive director of theMichigan Plum and Asparagus advisory boards;Mark Arney, then executive director of the MichiganApple Committee; Fred Poston, then dean of theMSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources;Bob Gast, then director of the MAES; and PhilKorson, president of the Cherry Marketing Institute(CMI). Though Michigan has one of the mostdiverse agricultural industries in the country — sec-ond only to California in number of crops produced— the state’s producers were having difficulty keep-ing up with growers in other states in quantity andcost of products.

“Project GREEEN, then called the PlantInitiative, was a combination of a number of ideasthat people had,” said Ben Kudwa, who continuesto serve as executive director of MPC and is alsoexecutive director of the Michigan CarrotCommittee. “Plant agriculture was viewed asunderserved, especially with regard to emergingand emergency issues. The idea was to find a sourceof funding for research to address these issues.”

In 1995, Korson, who remains president of CMI,also was chairman of the board of the MichiganIntegrated Pest Management (IPM) Alliance.

“The idea started there,” he explained. “We werediscussing issues affecting Michigan agricultureand we came up with the concept. It was a little nar-row at first, however; we knew we needed to createa broad coalition to be successful.”

Soon after the Ag Summit meeting, and with thesupport of a broad plant industry coalition and theMichigan Department of Agriculture (MDA),Project GREEEN became a reality. Modeled after theMichigan Animal Industry Initiative, ProjectGREEEN is a cooperative effort between plant-based commodities and businesses together withthe Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station(MAES), Michigan State University Extension(MSUE), the MDA and Michigan Farm Bureau(MFB) to advance Michigan’s economy through itsplant-based agriculture. Its mission is to developresearch and educational programs, ensure andimprove food safety, and protect and preserve thequality of the environment.

The combination of agricultural production andfood processing represents the second largestindustry in Michigan, contributing more than $40billion to Michigan’s economy annually. Michiganleads the nation in the production of 10 crops andranks fifth or higher in 32 crops, according to figures

from 2002. Plant-based agriculture — fruit, vegeta-bles, turf, floriculture, woody ornamentals, fieldcrops — contributed more than $21 billion to thestate’s economy and generated nearly 75,000 jobs in2000. If retail values of the net share of Michigan’sfood and ornamental supply are tabulated, theplant sector adds thousands more jobs and severalmore billion dollars to the economy.

Michigan has the potential to grow an evenwider variety of crops, as long as producers receivethe necessary research and technological informa-tion. Likewise, processors fill unique market nichesbut need research on new products, ingredientsand processes to thrive.

Project GREEEN strives to find rapid, integratedways to address insect, disease, weather, regulatoryand economic factors to benefit everyone involvedwith plant agriculture, from producer to processorto consumer. Research projects follow a competi-tive cycle that begins with each plant commoditygroup identifying time-sensitive industry priorities.

Researchers draft their proposals in response tothese needs in one of four program areas: basicresearch, applied research, value-added research orextension/demonstration/education. A reviewpanel consisting of MAES researchers, MSUEagents, and MDA, MFB and commodity representa-tives meet to decide which proposals should be

Sugar beets are just one commodity that has beensignificantly helped by Project GREEEN research andeducation.

Ben Kudwa, executive director of the Michigan PotatoIndustry Commission and the Michigan CarrotCommittee, was one of the original planners of ProjectGREEEN. He gives the program high marks.

Fall 2004 | 13

14 | FUTURES

funded and present their recommendations to theDirector’s Action Team (DAT). The DAT then usesthese recommendations to make final fundingdecisions across the spectrum of Michigan’s plantagriculture industries.

Project GREEEN has set a standard for integrat-ed plant agriculture research because it has theability to solve grower and processor problems rap-idly and allow plant agriculture and processingindustries to reach their potential.

“GREEEN is an outstanding initiative,” said KeithCreagh, MDA deputy director and member of theDAT. “It functions the way the industry leaders that

designed it wanted it to function. The industry getsto set priorities and have input that helps directuniversity research.”

“GREEEN is unique and a model for a lot of peo-ple to follow,” Korson added. “I view our relation-ship with MSU as a partnership. Research is a keypiece of the cherry industry’s success, whether theresearch is on production techniques or on thehealth benefits of cherries. I can’t say enough posi-tive things about Project GREEEN — it’s a greatpartnership. Everyone involved has won. It’s a win-win situation.”

“One of the strengths of Project GREEEN is theuniversity leadership’s willingness to break downthe department walls and get researchers from dif-ferent disciplines talking to each other about how to

solve a problem,” said Bob Boehm, manager of theCommodity and Marketing Department atMichigan Farm Bureau, who also is a member of thePlant Coalition. “Making the diversity of theresearchers involved in a project one of the criteriafor funding has been excellent for Michigan agricul-ture.”

“I rank GREEEN very highly,” Kudwa said. “It’sthe best initiative to come along and has helped alot of commodities. It’s important that industryhelps determine the research priorities.”

According to Kudwa, Korson, Boehm andCreagh, GREEEN’s uniqueness is a product of itsflexibility. Each year, each plant commodity groupis asked to submit its list of research priorities. So ifa new pest or disease has become an issue in thepast 12 months, GREEEN has the ability to fundresearch to address the problem quickly.

“GREEEN is successful in responding to theemergencies of the day,” Creagh said. “From theemerald ash borer to water use to phytophthora tovalue-added products, GREEEN has responded.Usually programs have money to hire people andput up buildings, but with GREEEN the money wasspecifically for projects. It gives GREEEN a flexibili-ty that other programs don’t have.

“GREEEN engages people,” Creagh continued.There is enough money there to tweak their interestand get them working on a project that may beslightly outside their main research focus.”

Project GREEEN also responds to unexpectedplant industry challenges. For example in 2002, theMichigan cherry industry experienced the smallestcrop in its history because of low early spring tem-peratures followed by several devastating frosts.The resulting economic hardship for many of thestate’s growers limited the amount of dollars avail-able from grower organizations to fund researchprojects. Project GREEEN played a key role inassisting the Michigan cherry industry in fundingits highest research priorities during this difficultyear.

“We couldn’t anticipate the 2004 problems in1995,” said Boehm. “The ability for commoditygroups to have input every year is very important.Project GREEEN also allows MSU administrators toretain some funding each year to respond to issuesthat may arise as a result of weather or other eventsthat happen during the year. These problems maynot have been pressing when the industry submit-ted their priorities but evolved over the growingseason. This ability to respond almost instantly hasbeen key to GREEEN’s success.”

“If industry needs change, GREEEN can change,”

Phil Korson, president of the Cherry Marketing Institute,also helped with initial planning for Project GREEEN. Hesays GREEEN is a model program.

Fall 2004 | 15

Korson said. “It’s very nimble in its response toissues.”

Korson also cited MSU’s land-grant tradition aspart of the program’s success.

“Michigan agriculture has a unique relationshipwith state government and our land-grant universi-ty,” he said. “We have created a special partnershiphere. When I visit other states, the growers and theuniversity researchers are not on the same page. InMichigan, I am very comfortable having an MSUresearcher represent growers on a committee. Thescientists are very tuned in and understand whatgrowers need and want.”

“The reason the program is so successful is theleadership in GREEEN and at the university,” Creaghsaid. “Hats off to Ian [Gray, former director of theMAES] and Maggie [Bethel, director of MSUE] forproviding excellent direction to the program.”

“Ian has never wavered from the original missionof Project GREEEN,” Korson added. “Because of this,it has tremendous support across the industry.”

In fiscal year 2003, Project GREEEN awardedapproximately $1.1 million to 36 new research proj-ects. Another $900,000 was directed toward multi-year projects that started in 2001 or 2002 targetingpriority issues affecting Michigan’s plant agricultureindustries. Following are two examples of GREEEN-funded research projects that have made a differ-ence for Michigan agriculture.

A Strawberry Success StoryAbout 1,000 acres of strawberries are grown each

year in Michigan, mostly at U-pick farms or at farmsthat supply roadside produce stands and local farmmarkets. At a value of $3.8 million, strawberries area small but important component of the totalMichigan agricultural economy. All strawberry vari-eties are susceptible to black root rot disease, whichis caused by a complex of soil-borne fungi andnematodes. The disease has been found in allstrawberry-growing regions of the United Statesand can reduce yields by almost 50 percent if grow-ers do not fumigate the soil to control it.

“Black root rot is the primary cause of yieldreduction in Michigan strawberries,” said MAEShorticulture scientist Jim Hancock. “It’s a complexdisease that involves nematodes and at least twofungi all working together to compromise the plantand causing it to grow poorly. The pests wait in thesoil for the next planting season and then attack thenext crop. They can also be brought in on the rootsof field-dug transplants.”

Hancock and MAES plant pathology scientistAnnemiek Schilder have teamed up on a many-

pronged approach to combat black root rot. Theirinitial research project was funded by ProjectGREEEN and has snowballed into a much largereffort, bringing in researchers from the U.S.Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Md., andfrom Cornell University in New York.

Methyl bromide is the most commonly usedpesticide to control black root rot; however, theFood Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996 has

Keith Creagh, deputy director of the MichiganDepartment of Agriculture, serves on the GREEENDirector’s Action Team. He says GREEEN is anoutstanding initiative.

Bob Boehm, manager of the Commodity and MarketingDepartment at Michigan Farm Bureau, believes thatcross-disciplinary research teams are one of GREEEN’sstrengths.

16 | FUTURES

called for withdrawal of methyl bromide on the fol-lowing schedule: 25 percent reduction in 1999, 25percent reduction in 2001, 20 percent reduction in2003, and complete phase-out in 2005.

“Methyl bromide is really on its way out,”Hancock explained. “California and Florida [thecountry’s two biggest strawberry growers] arefocusing on chemical alternatives to methyl bro-mide, such as methyl iodide, which will probably beexpensive. We want to develop a more holistic, mul-tifaceted approach that includes looking for diseaseresistance in wild strawberry varieties and thenbreeding that resistance into the popular varieties.”

Hancock and Schilder’s approach is also betterfor Michigan growers. Michigan grows strawberriesin a perennial system, which means the sameplants are left in the field after harvest. So plantsdamaged by black root rot one year carry this dam-age into the next season and the disease can buildup over several seasons. In California, the plants aregrown in an annual system, which means the plantsare replaced each year after harvest. California alsogrows a limited number of strawberry varieties,while Michigan and the Northeast in general grow anumber of diverse varieties. California’s strawberrygrowing techniques are also different than thoseused in Michigan.

Hancock, a small fruit breeder, and his studentsChad Osborn and Chrislyn Drake screened tradi-tionally grown varieties of strawberries as well assome wild species and found levels of resistance toblack root rot in a number of them. His long-termproject is to breed higher levels of resistance intothe varieties of strawberries grown in Michigan.

“But this is difficult to do,” he explained. “We canraise the level of resistance in certain varieties, butwe’ll probably never develop a completely resistantvariety. We can possibly have some improved vari-eties to recommend to growers in eight years. So wedecided to add cultural modifications to the proj-ect.”

Which is where Schilder comes in. A plantpathologist who specializes in diseases of smallfruits, Schilder and postdoctoral researchers RabiuOlatinwo and Siva Sabaratnam began studyingusing compost and biological controls to manageblack root rot.

“We also teamed up with researchers in Beltsvilleand at Cornell who are studying using rotationcrops and composts for black root rot control,” sheexplained. “We have test plots in a number of loca-tions around the Northeast.”

The research team has had some success in con-trolling the disease by adding compost to the soil,but results varied. In some cases, the compost wasactually detrimental to the plants.

“Compost generally improves soil quality, butapplying sufficient amounts of mature compost tothe strawberry fields is difficult and expensive,” shesaid. “Its effectiveness also seems to depend on theseverity of the disease and the type of compost thatis used.”

One of the team members at the USDA inBeltsville, Patricia Milner, is doing research on acompost recipe and application method that can be

MAES small fruit breeder Jim Hancock (left) is trying tobreed more resistance to black root rot intostrawberries. Grad student Chrislyn Drake is alsoworking on the project.

“GrowSoxx,” a method to deliver compost to straw-berry plants, was developed by Patricia Miller, a USDAscientist. Miller is collaborating with Jim Hancock andAnnemiek Schilder to combat black root rot.

Fall 2004 | 17

adapted to various areas of the country. She hasdeveloped a delivery technique called “GrowSoxx”that uses long sleeves to keep the compost togetherand contained near the plants. Test plots usingGrowSoxx in Maryland look promising.

“Planting cover crops such as kale, sweet cornand rye in the field after the strawberries are har-vested also shows some promise,” Schilder contin-ued. “Rotating out of strawberries reduces the num-ber of pathogens in the soil.”

Schilder’s research group also has evaluatedmany commercially available and some experi-mental biocontrol products for their ability to con-trol black root rot. These products contain benefi-cial microbes that help the plants fight the disease.Most are not labeled for use in strawberries but maybe in the future. In her field trials some biocontrolswere detrimental to the strawberry plants, whileothers looked quite promising. One of the mostsuccessful was isolated from strawberry plant rootsin a Michigan field.

“We have investigated each component individ-ually,” Hancock explained. “I don’t think any singleone will solve the problem. We need to find the bestones from each area and then develop a systemintegrating them into a combination system thatworks for our growers.”

“In the Northeast, we all use the same cultivationtechniques for strawberries,” Hancock said. “Ourproduction isn’t as large as California’s, but we havemany more growers than California. This work hasthe potential to help a lot of people.”

“We want to create an environmentally friendlycrop system for strawberries with minimal inputs,”Schilder added. “Strawberries are difficult to growwithout pesticides, but the chemicals are expensiveto apply and their benefits diminish over time.”

The scientists hope that raising the levels ofblack root rot resistance through breeding willimprove yields by 20 percent, and that the othermanagement techniques — cover crops, biocon-trols and compost — will each add an additional 10percent, all of which will combine to offset the 50percent reduction in yield attributed to black rootrot. These techniques form the foundation of a cul-tural system with many fewer chemical inputs.

Similar diseases affect other crops, and themethods Hancock and Schilder are studying mayhave applications for them as well.

“I think this is an excellent example of a GREEENsuccess story,” Hancock said. “We don’t have com-plete results yet, but with our three-year grant fromGREEEN, we did some basic research and usedthose results to get three federally funded grants for

almost $1 million. And we’ll be helping a large num-ber of people.”

The Sweet Smell of Sugar Beet ProductionSuccess

Michigan is the country’s fourth largest produc-er of sugar beets. Its 2002 harvest of 3.2 million tonswas almost 12 percent of the U.S. total. Most of thecrop is grown in the Thumb region of the state, andHuron and Tuscola counties were the state’s top twoproducers in 2002. Almost all of the beets harvested

are processed into sugar; Monitor and MichiganSugar are the two biggest refining companies in thestate. Monitor produces Big Chief sugar, andMichigan Sugar produces Pioneer sugar. Sugarbeets are an integral part of Michigan’s economy,adding more than $111 million in 2002.

But in 1997, the picture was not so sweet. In1984, sugar beet yields took a nosedive and contin-ued to plummet each successive year. Acreageplanted dropped dramatically, and growers startedto consider planting other crops.

“The industry was at risk of going out of busi-ness,” said Steve Poindexter, MSUE sugar beetagent based at the Saginaw County MSUE office.“October through March is when the sugar refining

MAES plant pathologist Annemiek Schilder is studyingusing compost and biological controls to manage blackroot rot in strawberries.

18 | FUTURES

factories normally operate, but some were shuttingdown in early February because there weren’t anybeets to process.”

Clearly, something needed to be done. So theMAES and MSUE convened a meeting of growers,processors, researchers and educators to discussthe problems and formulate solutions. The groupdeveloped a list of 30 items that were issues for thesugar beet industry, and the growers and processingcompanies offered to pay half the salary of anMSUE agent to focus exclusively on sugar beets. Inthe fall of 1997, the Sugarbeet AdvancementCommittee was formed and Poindexter was hiredas the first MSUE sugar beet agent.

“Production was an issue,” Poindexter

explained. “We needed research on new culturaltechniques, varieties and pest control.”

A cooperative partnership between MSU, thesugar processing companies and growers, theSugarbeet Advancement Program is fundedthrough fees assessed to sugar beet producers. In1999, the Sugarbeet Advancement Program, withPoindexter as the coordinator, put together an inte-grated team of MSU scientists, many affiliated withthe MAES, and received a three-year grant fromProject GREEEN to study improving plant emer-gence, persistence and yield of sugar beets inMichigan, all research priorities identified by theindustry.

“The research results have been used extremelysuccessfully in the growers’ fields,” Poindexter said.“Sugar beet acreage is up, yields are up and recover-able white sugar per acre is also up. We’re more pro-ductive than we were in 1982. Things are going so

well that the growers bought Michigan Sugar — it’sa grower-owned cooperative now.”

According to Poindexter, a big part of the reasonfor the project’s success is the on-farm nature of theresearch plots.

“Almost all the research is done in growers’fields, using their equipment and their systems,” heexplained. “These research trials are larger than thetypical small plots done on campus or in labs. Thegrowers like it — when the research is in their fieldsand experiencing the same conditions their crop is,they have more faith in the results.”

“The research is done just like a grower wouldproduce beets,” said Gene Meylan, a producer inSaginaw who has been growing sugar beets for 34years and is also the president of the Monitor Sugargrowers. “We really appreciate this. You can see allthe variables and know that the research was doneunder the same conditions you’re growing yourbeets under. This research is very valuable — it’swhat is taking us forward as an industry.”

“Before the Sugarbeet Advancement Programresearch, the companies always did their own basicresearch,” added John Spero, a sugar beet growerfor 42 years and a stockholder in Michigan Sugar.Spero helped start the Sugarbeet AdvancementCommittee and served as its chairman for twoyears. “But producers didn’t have much faith inthese small plots. We never saw the conditionsunder which the research was conducted. TheSugarbeet Advancement Program research waseasy to understand — we could actually see it onour farms.”

Another component of the project’s success hasbeen the immediate availability of the results.

“We publish a research book each year,”Poindexter said. “And we also hold seminars andother educational sessions for growers. We didsome follow-up surveys and discovered that farm-ers who attended our seminars saw about a $30 peracre enhancement of their revenue, which is a totalincrease of $1 million.”

Some of the beneficial information discoveredthrough the Project GREEEN research includes:

• A new schedule for spraying fungicide tocontrol Cercospora leaf spot can save growers$20 to $136 per acre. One of the most seriousdiseases affecting sugar beets, leaf spot is afungal disease that attacks the foliage. Itcauses small dead spots and can turn thewhole leaf black, resulting in lower cropyields and sugar content.

“Growers can check a tool we have onlineto see if weather conditions are favorable for

Crown rot, caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia, is aproblem for many sugar beet growers in Michigan.Research funded by GREEEN has helped fight theproblem.

Fall 2004 | 19

the development of leaf spot,” Poindexterexplained. “Based on the weather conditionsfor their area, the tool tells them when to spray.More than two-thirds of the growers havechanged their leaf spot management practicesbecause of this information.”

• New management techniques to controlRhizoctonia, a fungus that causes crown rot insugar beets. By studying the cumulativeeffects of variety selection, previous crop inthe field, cultivation practices and timing ofchemical controls for the fungus, researchershave been able to improve yield by as much as5 tons per acre.

“Rhizoctonia also affects dry beans andsoybeans in rotation,” Poindexter said.“Changing crops doesn’t always break the dis-ease cycle. Our research has developed a testthat growers can use to determine if they needto spray.”

• An earlier planting date can reduce seedlingdisease and improve stands and yields. Almost27 percent of growers now plant during the lastweek of March, rather than the middle of April.

• Too much nitrogen can reduce beet emergence

by 10 to 15 percent. Nineteen percent of pro-ducers have changed their nitrogen applica-tions on the basis of these results.

• Counter™ and Temik™, two compounds usedto control sugar beet cyst nematodes, werefound to be associated with increased rates ofRhizoctonia. This helps explain why growerswere experiencing variable results when usingthese compounds to control the pests.

“Personally, I’m using less nitrogen and plantingmy rows closer together,” Spero said. “My sugar peracre has gone up. The direct contact I have with theresearchers makes the work more real to me. Thisresearch is a major contributor to the industry’ssuccess in the last seven years. And it isn’t just a fewindividuals that are benefiting — it’s a lot of people.Production has gone up across the board.”

“I’m absolutely in favor of this research continu-ing,” Meylan added. “As the industry moves for-ward, the research has to move forward. I feel luckythat I was able to be involved in this. The more Iknow about the research, the more excited I am forour future.”

::: Jamie DePolo

Steve Poindexter (right) discusses on-farm research with sugar beet grower John Spero (left) and his son. Spero has been growing sugar beets for42 years and says GREEEN research has helped him improve productivity.

With some help from MAES researchers, the Michigan

wine industry is becoming internationally respected

for its vintages and cultivation techniques.

M E R G I N G

S C I E N C E

and Art

With some help from MAES researchers, the Michigan

wine industry is becoming internationally respected

for its vintages and cultivation techniques.

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750 ml

20 | FUTURES

alc. 12.5% by vol.

With some help from MAES researchers, the Michigan

wine industry is becoming internationally respected

for its vintages and cultivation techniques.

Fall 2004 | 21

hen Michigan denizenscomplement their meals with

a bottle of wine produced byone of the state’s 40 commercial wineries,they become part of a tradition thatstretches back thousands of years andhalfway around the world.

According to The Origins and AncientHistory of Wine by Patrick McGovern, sen-ior research scientist in archaeologicalchemistry and ceramics at the Penn StateMuseum’s Applied Science Center forArchaeology, the first historical evidenceof winemaking was in 8500 B.C. in theNear East. On today’s map, the area wouldbe in the northern mountains of Iran.Throughout the ages, people have pre-ferred fermented beverages to water.Alcoholic drinks were safer, providedpleasing psychotropic effects and wereviewed as more nutritious. As civilizationsgrew, wine and other alcoholic beveragescontinued to play an important role intrade, cultural interactions and religion.

“Making wine is an interesting mix ofagriculture, science and art,” said G.Stanley Howell, MAES horticultural scien-tist and an internationally renowned wineresearcher. In 2003, Howell received theLodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission’sannual Wine Integrity Award for his morethan three decades of dedication to theexpansion and improvement of theMichigan wine industry. “It’s art becauseof the subjective nature of taste,” he con-tinued. “And it’s science because grapevinecultural techniques, variety evaluationand controlled cellar microbiology arecritically important to quality wineproduction.”

During his 35 years at MSU, Howell hasseen and been a catalyst for a revolution inthe Michigan wine industry. In 1969, 95percent of Michigan wines came fromthree varieties: Concord, Niagara andDelaware, and most were grown in thesouthwest corner of the state. These vari-eties, from species native to Michigan,produced exceedingly average wine. Thewine’s quality was reflected in its price —most sold for less than $1 per bottle.

Today, only 3 percent of Michigan wineis made from these varieties. The industryis dominated by vinifera varieties, classicEuropean grapes such as Chardonnay,

Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir andPinot Grigio. Almost 60 percent ofMichigan wine grapes are vinifera. Theother 40 percent of wines are made fromhybrid varieties, crosses between viniferaand grapes native to North America, suchas Vidal blanc, Traminette, Chardonel,Chambourcin, Marechal Foch, Seyval andVignoles. In contrast to the initial cluster-ing of the industry in southwesternMichigan in the early 1970s, commercialgrape production now stretches from theIndiana state line to Northport, at the tipof the Leelanau Peninsula. Quality hasimproved dramatically — several winerieshave had vintages recognized with inter-national awards — as has the industry’seconomic contribution to the state. Wineproduction and winery tourism contribute$75 million to Michigan’s economy eachyear, according to a recent study done byscientists in the MSU Department ofCommunity, Agriculture, Recreation andResource Studies.

“The average price for a bottle ofMichigan wine is $10,” Howell said. “That’sa major improvement, even when weaccount for inflation. We had 10 wineriesin the state in 1969. Ten years ago we had20, and today we have 40. There’s been ahuge increase in value and acreage. We’re

on the threshold of a big increase inacreage. I always said that before I retiredthere would be a commercial winery inevery county on the Lake Michigan shore-line. Every county but one has a winerynow.”

As executive director of the MichiganGrape and Wine Industry Council(MGWIC), Linda Jones is excited about thefuture of wine in Michigan.

“We need more wine grape growers in

MAES horticultural scientist Stan Howell is an internationally renowned wine researcher. He has dedicated his career of more than 30 years to expanding and improving the Michiganwine industry.

Linda Jones, executive director of theMichigan Grape and Wine Industry Council,says that MSU research has helped theMichigan wine industry grow and stay strong.

22 | FUTURES

Michigan,” she said. “Wineries help pre-serve farmland and offer business devel-opment opportunities for investors. Thewineries are also popular tourist destina-tions. Part of our mission is encouraginggrowth of the industry, and we can steerpeople to good wine growing areas in thestate. Michigan has 13,500 acres of vine-yards, making us the fourth largest grape-growing state. But only 1,500 acres aredevoted to wine grapes.”

Because of the relatively inexpensiveprice of wine-producing land in Michigan,both Howell and Jones have seen an influxof investors and vineyard owners movinghere from California and other wine-pro-ducing areas to start a business.

“In Napa, Calif., I saw undevelopedvineyard land selling for $100,000 peracre,” Howell said. “Michigan land ischeap in comparison.”

Bringing Europe to MichiganThe transformation of the state’s wine

industry is due in large part to the varietyevaluation work that Howell began whenhe arrived at MSU from the University ofMinnesota. A self-confessed novice (“I

didn’t have any grape and wine experiencewhen I came here”), Howell, a Mississippinative, had studied freeze stress in applesin Minnesota.

“When I arrived here, Angelo Spinazzi,winemaker at Bronte Winery andChampagne Co., asked me if I could helpthe Michigan wine industry,” Howellrecalled. “I told him, yes, grape growingand wine production were agriculture.MSU was founded on the basis of dedica-tion to that segment of the state’s econo-my. I was told that European varietieswouldn’t grow in Michigan. But I wasyoung and stubborn, so I decided to plantthese varieties on some plots at the formerMAES field research station in Sodus. Iplanted a number of varieties and askedthe growers and winemakers what theythought. We found that vinifera varietieswould grow here — we just needed to usedifferent cultural techniques.”

Much of Howell’s research since thoseearly days has focused on selectingvinifera cultivars for cold tolerance andinsect and disease resistance, continuallyimproving and refining the varieties andcultural techniques that could produce

economic success in Michigan’s cool cli-mate.

“Stan could have chosen to take hisresearch to any number of institutionsaround the world,” said David Miller, vicepresident of wine making and viticulturistfor St. Julian Wine Co., Inc., of Paw Paw,Mich., the state’s oldest winery. Millerworked for Howell while getting his mas-ter’s and doctoral degrees at MSU.“Instead, he chose to stay in Michigan andtackle the more difficult challenge of help-ing to build an industry in a region that is‘climatically challenged’ — Michigan.Stan’s efforts are well appreciated by thosewho choose to stay abreast of the cuttingedge in viticulture both at home andabroad. The variety research has been veryhelpful and very important.”

“MSU has helped me with so many dif-ferent things,” said Joe Herman, who withhis wife, Sue, operates Karma VistaVineyards and Winery in Coloma. The landhas been farmed by his family for 157years, primarily in tree fruit, until hedecided to convert some of it to winegrapes. “The variety trials have been themost valuable to me,” he continued. “It’s

David Miller, vice president of wine making and viticulturist at St. Julian Wine Co. in Paw Paw,and an MSU alumnus who earned his doctorate with Howell, says the variety research done atMSU has been very important.

��

Fall 2004 | 23

great to see the actual vineyards at theSouthwest Michigan Research andExtension Center (SWMREC) in BentonHarbor and see how the different culturalpractices affect each one. I’m on the grow-er advisory board for SWMREC, and I’mvery proud that the center bringsresearchers to the area. It’s good to havethe station here.”

Other areas of Howell’s research thathave benefited the Michigan wine indus-try include rootstock evaluation, fruitquality and canopy management so thatenough but not too much sun can get tothe grapes.

“We definitely have challenges inMichigan,” Howell said. “For example,Pinot Noir grapes grow in tiny, tightlypacked clusters. In Michigan, we have rainduring the harvest season, which meansthe grapes are more susceptible to rot. Ifone berry in the cluster rots, it ruins thewhole cluster. We’re doing research toreduce the compactness of the cluster,which we hope will reduce the incidenceof rot.”

Though Howell is the elder statesmenof MAES wine researchers, other scientists

also are adding to the industry’s body ofknowledge. Work by Tom Zabadal, SWM-REC station coordinator, on vineyardestablishment, vine spacing and main-taining fruiting potential for tender vari-eties through the winter has produced anumber of educational publications forMichigan growers. Rufus Isaacs, MAESentomologist, has done research onscreening and registering pesticides forgrapes, as well as integrated pest manage-ment (IPM) techniques for grape growers.Some of this research was done withHerman at Karma Vista Vineyards.Annemiek Schilder, MAES plant patholo-gist, is studying how to control phomopsiscane and leaf spot, caused by the fungusPhomopsis viticola. It is a disease ofincreasing concern in Michigan andaffects both juice and wine grapes.Niagara, Concord, Vignoles, Chancellor,Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon areall susceptible to it.

“We are constantly challenged by socie-ty to refine our methodology, to reduceinputs,” Howell said. “Michigan’s climatemakes it tough on the grapes. We have tocreate a balance in the vines so that we

have enough of the grape crop that canmature while still having enough leaves tosupport the fruit and help the plants toler-ate insect, disease and environmentalstresses. We’re learning just how much leafarea we need. I believe the future will bringfrequent assessment of the vineyard forvine crop status much as we are now doingfor disease and insect managementthrough IPM programs.”

In a different discipline, a group ofresearchers affiliated with the MSU Travel,Tourism and Recreation Resources Center— including MAES tourism scientist DonHolecek and Ed Mahoney and Dan Stynes,researchers in the Department ofCommunity, Agriculture, Recreation andResource Studies — completed a market-ing and economic analysis of Michigan’swine industry and wine tourism in 2002.

“Research done at MSU helps theMichigan wine industry stay strong,” saidJones of the MGWIC. “We need the infor-mation from the economic analysis to domarketing. Besides telling us how muchvalue the wine industry adds to the state,the study also found that more than 60percent of people who visited a winery

Joe Herman, who operates Karma Vista Vineyards and Winery in Coloma, saysMSU has helped him with many aspects of his operation.

��

24 | FUTURES

used the Internet to get travel information.We’ve been encouraging wineries to put asmuch time as possible into creating andmaintaining their Web sites. It’s a veryimportant marketing tool for us. Wine tast-ings and tasting rooms are also veryimportant, and the Web can support themas well.”

Jones said the MGWIC is planning touse the results from the marketing andeconomic analysis again to create animage for the Michigan wine experience.

“All the wineries are different,” she said,“but they’re all part of the Michigan winerynetwork. We want to have one image thatcaptures the experience of Michigan wine,whether it’s visiting a winery or purchasingthe wine. The Michigan wine industry isunique because we use fruit grown in thestate. Many use imported grapes.”

“We use Ed Mahoney’s study extensive-ly,” said Don Coe, managing partner atBlack Star Farms, in Suttons Bay. Besidesthe winery, Black Star Farms includes abed and breakfast, stables and a creamery,which is home to the Leelanau CheeseCompany. “I am a member of the LeelanauCounty Economic Development Com-

mission, as well as serving on the advisoryboards of the Great Lakes CulinaryInstitute and the Grand Rapids Com-munity College Culinary Program, and Iuse this information extensively todemonstrate the importance of winerytourism to both the dining and lodgingindustries. In our own winery, we use thisinformation as a training guide for ourtasting room personnel, focusing on thedrivers of winery tourism to ensure wedeliver a great experience for our guests.”

The Character of Michigan WineResearch on varieties and how to grow

the highest quality grape is only half thestory in producing great wine. Otherresearch on flavor chemistry, yeast strains,fermentation, and the use of oak barrelsand their contribution to the flavor roundout the body of knowledge on Michiganwines.

“Michigan wines are classic cool-cli-mate wines,” Howell explained. “Ourwines have a fruit-forward flavor — youcan taste the grape. Then we use barrelmaturation, much as a cook would usespices, as a production technique to

enhance the flavor, which is subtle. Thesewines are more food-friendly; they’re bal-anced to be good matches with food.That’s why there is so much interest inPinot Gris.

“I believe we are producing world-class Riesling, Pinot Gris and sparklingwine,” he continued. “Our Chardonnay isvery close. I knew we had turned a corner25 years ago when the food critics inDetroit started writing good things aboutMichigan wines. People don’t realize howgood Michigan Chardonnay is.”

Howell said that he sees production ofworld-class Michigan red wines comingvery soon.

“They’re very good now, but the PinotNoir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and CabernetSauvignon will soon be world-class,” hesaid. “It is a challenge to grow Cabernets inMichigan because they can produce anundesired herbaceous flavor in the result-ing red wine. We’re experimenting withadditional vineyard production techniquesand with several modified cellar methodsto solve the problem. We will solve theproblem, and when we do, our very goodred wines will be world-class red wines.”

��

Don Coe, managing partner at Black Star Farms in Suttons Bay, uses MSUresearch to market his winery. Besides the winery, Black Star Farms includes abed and breakfast, stables and a creamery, which is home to the LeelanauCheese Company.

Fall 2004 | 25

Howell sees a role for both world-classwines, what he calls “reputation-buildingwines” that are more expensive, and good,solid, reasonably priced wines that herefers to as “bill-paying wines.”

“As we expand into world-class produc-tion, I think there will be a continued placefor bill-paying wines,” he said. “Not every-one can afford or wants to pay a lot for abottle of wine, but they still want to enjoya good, quality Michigan wine. There is amarket for both types.”

Creating LeadersEducating the industry’s current and

future leaders is the third componentcementing the strong partnership betweenMSU and the Michigan wine industry.Researchers hold regular educational pro-grams during the year for growers, bothon-campus and at MAES field research sta-tions around the state, such as SWMRECand the Northwest Michigan HorticulturalResearch Station in Traverse City.

“The viticulture and enology programat MSU is important because it is a sourceof well-educated employees who will keepthe industry going,” Jones said. “And the

field days and grower education programsare well attended; they’re a good way totransfer the information from the lab tothe producer.

“Much of Stan Howell’s research hasbeen conducted here in Michigan, whereour industry has been fortunate to benefitfrom the close proximity to leadingresearch on vine physiology,” she contin-ued. “While his research contributes to thebody of knowledge globally, he and hisstaff take time to offer educational pro-grams and consultation with the localindustry. Two of his doctoral students arenow prominent winemakers in Michigan’sindustry.”

“I think our programs are the land-grant tradition personified,” Howell said.“We find solutions to practical problemsand we educate people on the principlesassociated with those problems. This fieldattracts a lot of starry-eyed people — partof my job is to break them of that. Winemaking is cash-intensive and requires a lotof hard work. As long as a wine growerunderstands the principles of viticultureand enology, he or she can modify them toaccommodate local conditions and apply

them anywhere.“We want to have home-grown people

at the front edge of the Michigan wineindustry,” he added.

“One of the best things Stan has done isproduce people like Dave Miller andCharlie Edson [who owns and operates BelLago Vineyard and Winery with his wife,MAES horticultural scientist AmyIezzoni],” said Karma Vista’s Herman.“These are the new leaders who are takingour industry into the future.”

“MSU taught me how to be a criticalthinker,” Miller said. “We weren’t justlearning recipes. I value the MSU programa lot. When I came to St. Julian, I saw thatpeople weren’t using the latest informa-tion. I tried to improve that, based onwhat I had learned at MSU from Stan,and use the latest information to improveour product. As the industry grows, weneed new information and we look toMSU for that.”

::: Jamie DePolo

Howell says Michigan is producing world-class Riesling, Pinot Gris and sparkling wines. The state’s Chardonnay is very close, and production ofworld-class reds should start very soon.

26 | FUTURES

International

Ties Boost

Animal

Production

ResearchANIMAL AGRICULTURE AND ITS ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS —

milk, meat, wool, eggs, cheese and butter — make upa significant portion of Michigan’s economy.According to numbers from the MichiganAgricultural Statistics Service, the state is eighth inthe country in milk production, 14th in hog produc-tion and 31st in cattle production. Michigan cattleand calves were valued at $871 million in 2003, andpoultry production, including eggs, turkeys andchickens, was worth $122 million in 2002, up 4 per-cent from the previous year. Excluding poultry,Michigan exported $53 million worth of live animalsand meat to other countries in 2002, placing it in thetop 20 of U.S. exporters for these commodities.

Thanks to the popularity of the Atkins and SouthBeach diets, protein is the food of choice for thosetrying to lose weight, which is good news forMichigan livestock producers. Estimates are that 40

MAES scientists

are collaborating with

researchers in Ireland

to enhance animal agriculture

profitability in Michigan

Fall 2004 | 27

percent of Americans are increasing their consumption of proteinwhile reducing their carbohydrate intake. Eggs, bacon, cheeseand beef are back in style, and Michigan farmers are looking fornew ways to meet this increased consumer demand with high-quality products.

Enhancing profitability in animal agriculture means researchon new methods to combat diseases, as well as work on selectingcows with desirable traits, such as high milk production, highfertility and longevity in theherd, and research into newways to add value to the rawproducts, such as new types ofdairy or meat products.

MAES ANIMAL SCIENTIST JIM

Ireland studies bovine repro-duction, searching for newtechniques to improve thereproduction efficiency of cat-tle. Dairy and beef cattle farm-ing requires large up-frontinvestments — the animalsmust be purchased, fed,housed and seen regularly by aveterinarian. Any cows that donot reliably produce calves toreplenish the herd becomeeven more expensive. Ireland,who is also director of theMSU Molecular ReproductiveEndocrinology Laboratory, isjust one of several MAES ani-mal scientists working in this area, and helping MSU build aninternational reputation in the animal reproduction genomicsdiscipline. Others include George W. Smith and Richard Pursley.MAES animal scientists Jeanne Burton, Jose Cibelli, PaulCoussens, Matt Doumit and Cathy Ernst also study differentaspects of animal genomics.

Ireland also has the distinction of starting a collaboration withanimal science researchers in the Republic of Ireland — a relation-ship that began more than 25 years ago when he arrived at MSU.

“I came to MSU in 1977, and Jim Roche, from UniversityCollege Dublin, was here on sabbatical,” Ireland explained. “Thescientist that Jim Roche was supposed to work with left MSU, sohe and I were kind of thrown together. It worked out very well. Wewere fortunate because the MAES supports and fosters interna-tional collaboration, so our program grew from there.

“Animal reproduction is an extremely competitive field,” hecontinued, “so this international partnership has helped us builda stronger research group and better projects. It definitely gives usan advantage.”

Initially the researchers focused on bovine reproduction, but

the program grew into a much larger collaboration over the past25 years.

“Each group sponsors research fellows that go back and forth,”Ireland said. “Visiting scientists and students come to MSU anddo research with our scientists in the Center for AnimalFunctional Genomics. The exchange program allows us to devel-op synergies and draw on the strengths of each institution tomake both of us and the research stronger. We can both benefit

from grants that the otherreceives because we’re notcompeting with each other.There is a real sharing ofknowledge.”

Current joint MSU-Irelandresearch projects includeidentifying new genes that aremarkers for higher fertility,growth and other importanttraits in cattle and other ani-mals important to agricul-ture, such as pigs.

“Most of the work is basicresearch,” Ireland explained,“identifying the genes andlearning what they control.We’re laying the foundationfor the development of meth-ods to improve reproduction,growth efficiency, and thehealth and well-being of theanimals.”

Some of the research ismore applied, however, including developing and evaluating newand improved artificial insemination (AI) techniques for cattle,the effort that Pursley leads.

FEWER THAN 10 PERCENT OF BEEF CATTLE PRODUCERS IN THE UNITED

States use AI per year, while dairy producers use AI on 70 percentof their lactating cows and 50 percent of their heifers. AI can beexpensive, costing approximately $50 per cow per inseminationfrom a champion bull. And if the cow doesn’t get pregnant fromthe AI, then the producer has to try again, which raises the cost.

“One of the biggest costs for producers is replacing animalsthat do not reproduce,” Ireland said. “So while we are investigat-ing improved AI techniques for cattle, we’re also studying poten-tial new ways to identify high-fertility cows — cows that get preg-nant easily.”

Each bovine ovary has hundreds of thousands of eggs. Eachegg is surrounded by a group of support cells called the granulosacells. Together, the egg and these cells are housed in a follicle. Thegranulosa cells maintain the egg in a state of suspended ani-mation until the follicle receives a signal to resume growth,

Left to right: MAES animal scientist George W. Smith, visiting scholar OsmanPatel and MAES animal scientist Jim Ireland are studying ways to selectcows with desirable traits such as high milk production, high fertility andlongevity in the herd.

28 | FUTURES

ultimately leading to ovulation. By using ultrasound imaging ofthe follicles, Ireland hopes to be able to distinguish high fertilitycows from those with average or low fertility.

“We’re developing and testing the techniques,” he explained.“We’re anticipating having results in about a year. So while muchof our research is basic research, we are doing some applied workas well.”

MAES animal scientist George W. Smith is approaching fertili-ty research from a different angle. He is using genomic technolo-gy to understand what makes a good egg — one that is likely todevelop into healthy calf.

“We’re looking at the catalogue of genetic information in theeggs to see what needs to be there for the egg to be high quality,with a greater chance for pregnancy success after it is fertilized,”Smith explained. “If we can identify these characteristics, then wemay be able to help producers select cattle with a greater chanceof becoming pregnant. Our goal is to increase the likelihood thata cow will get pregnant after the first time she is serviced orundergoes AI.”

According to Smith, approximately 65 to 75 percent of dairycows don’t get pregnant on the first try, which means added costsfor producers.

The work may also have implications for people.“There are certainly applications for human beings,” Smith

said. “Today, we have more older women trying to get pregnantbut with less success, and egg quality may play a role in this. Aswomen age, the quality of their eggs decreases; that happens withall mammals. Many people who have difficulty becoming preg-nant try in vitro fertilization techniques, and our work may beable to improve that process.”

When a woman undergoes in vitro fertilization, the doctor

harvests eggs from her ovaries and fertilizes them all, creatingembryos. The most promising-looking embryos are implanted inthe uterus.

“There are a lot of ethical issues surrounding what to do withthe extra embryos,” Smith said. “Some people don’t want them tobe destroyed. What happens if the couple divorces? Who gets cus-tody of the embryos?

“If our work is successful, the eggs could be evaluated for qual-ity before fertilization,” he continued. “Only the one or two high-est quality eggs would be fertilized, so there wouldn’t be any extraembryos.”

Smith, who has been part of the MSU-Ireland program for afew years, agrees with scientist Ireland that the collaboration hasbeen extremely beneficial to his research.

“It’s allowed me to work with the top researchers in the areawho work in Ireland — the MAES has made a tremendous invest-ment in this program,” he said.

BESIDES THE EXCHANGE OF SCIENTISTS AND STUDENTS, THE COLLABORA-tive program has allowed Smith and Ireland, with the support ofthe MAES, to hire a top visiting scholar. Osman Patel, who is fromZambia and earned his master’s degree in veterinary medicinefrom the University of Glasgow, in Scotland, and his doctorate inveterinary medical sciences from the University of Tokyo, thoughnot from Ireland, is part of the MSU-Irish collaboration. TheMAES research agreement with the Irish version of the experi-ment station, Teagasc, called for each group to hire a research fel-low to work on the egg quality project, one at MSU and one inIreland. Patel began work in Smith’s lab nearly a year ago.

“Osman has done a tremendous amount of work and made avery important contribution,” Smith said. “He’s refined the tech-nology we use to study the eggs. Before, we had to use thousandsof eggs to do the research. Now we can use only a handful of eggs.It’s been extremely beneficial.”

“My time here has been challenging and definitely worth-while,” Patel said. “It’s a very good program.”

According to Jim Ireland, another benefit of the collaborativeprogram is its ability to lay the groundwork for new, as-yet-to-be-imagined research programs.

“There are many ways to approach enhancing animal produc-tion,” Ireland continued. “The molecular level is just oneapproach. But if we can demonstrate that genes can be used toidentify animals with desirable traits, and if we can identify theanimals earlier so producers aren’t wasting money raising ani-mals that are undesirable, then we are benefiting the animals andthe producers. This research collaboration with Ireland has givenMSU a strong foundation in cutting-edge basic research. It’s help-ing us now, but it’s also allowing us to prepare for the future andcreate a new way to do research.”

::: Jamie DePolo

MSU’s collaboration with animal science researchers in the Republic ofIreland began more than 25 years ago. The international partnershiphas helped MSU build a stronger research group.

Fall 2004 | 29

John C. Baker, the associate dean forresearch and graduate studies for theMSU College of Veterinary Medicine(CVM), was named acting director of theMichigan Agricultural Experiment Stationon Nov. 1. Ever since, he’s had someexplaining to do.

A current CVM student e-mailed Bakerto wish him well in his new assignment,writing: “I hope you are enjoying yourtime away from the university!” Then acolleague from the University of Michiganwrote to ask where exactly “the station”was located. When Baker explained thathe was right on the MSU campus inAgriculture Hall, his Go Blue colleaguereplied: “The way I envisioned it, yournew position was in some remote igloo...Glad to hear you are still in civilization!!”

“Of course, the MAES is much morethan a single farm,” said Baker, whoseems to enjoy correcting misconceptionsabout agricultural experiment stationsand reminding people about the historyof land-grant universities. He’s begun car-rying the MAES annual report in his brief-case, complete with the map showingMAES facilities around the state, to giveimpromptu lessons. “For starters, peopleshould know that we manage 15 researchstations around Michigan and supportmuch of the research conducted by MSUacademic departments at MSU’s southcampus experimental plots in EastLansing,” he said, pointing to the annualreport’s map and explaining how one ofthese lessons might begin.

However, Baker acknowledges that thee-mails reflect one of the challenges fac-ing the MAES and other agriculturalexperiment stations around the country.Even though “the station” does muchmore than serve growers and producers,people still think of the MAES in thisrather narrow historical role.

The scope of the MAES is anything butnarrow. MAES dollars support research oneconomic development, food safety, landuse planning, watershed management,family and community development anddozens of other areas relevant to citizensacross Michigan. Baker says he’s lookingforward to speaking up about this rele-vancy over the next year and beyond.

Baker’s other goals for the year — he’sadamant that he’ll return to his fulltimeCVM duties next fall — include:

• Participating in efforts to completeAAALAC accreditation across campus,including in the CVM and the College ofAgriculture and Natural Resources(CANR). AAALAC — the Association forAssessment and Accreditation ofLaboratory Animal Care — is a private,nonprofit organization that promotes thehumane treatment of animals in sciencethrough voluntary accreditation.Accreditation will allow MSU to be morecompetitive in animal-related researchand to maintain compliance with regula-tory agencies. Animals are an importantpart of MSU’s mission in teaching, exten-sion education and research. AAALACaccreditation will demonstrate MSU’scommitment to the highest standards ofanimal care, Baker says.

• Lending MAES leadership to discussionsabout high level containment facilities forboth plant and animals at MSU. In thepost-Sept. 11 world, these types of facili-ties are needed for MSU to be fullyengaged in research related to bioterror-ism and agroterrorism. The MAES fundsresearch that affects the health of human,animal and plant populations, so is in anatural position to lead this issue.

• Being prepared to clearly communicatethe capabilities and potential of the MAES,

and otherwise laying the groundwork forthe incoming director to be successful.

• Most importantly, preserving andstrengthening support for existing MAESactivities, and remaining fiscally soundin an environment of flat or decliningbudgets.

Baker credits outgoing director IanGray with doing an excellent job steeringthe MAES through several funding chal-lenges over the last few years, though headds: “I don’t think that funding chal-lenges are permanently behind us. But Ialso don’t think that tight budgets or otherhardships should squelch innovation.”

In fact, when it comes to remainingenergized about innovation, Baker looksback to the history of the land-grant uni-versities for inspiration. PresidentAbraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act in1862, establishing land-grant colleges inevery state and placing instruction inagriculture and home economics in high-er education. This was quite an accom-plishment in the midst of the Civil War,arguably the most divisive and uncertaintime in our country’s history.

“You’ve been at U of M too long andare losing your land-grant roots,” Bakerchided his Ann Arbor colleague, who alsohappens to be a graduate of Indiana’sland-grant university, Purdue. “Every statehas an agricultural experiment station atthe land-grant university.”

Baker has spent his entire career atland-grant universities. He received hisbachelor’s, master’s and doctor of veteri-nary medicine degrees from Ohio StateUniversity. He then moved to theUniversity of Minnesota where he com-pleted a clinical internship and clinicalresidency and also received a doctorate inlarge animal clinical sciences.

Baker began his MSU career in 1984 inthe CVM’s Department of Large AnimalClinical Sciences. Ever since, he’s servedin various academic and administrativeleadership roles. Most of Baker’s time inthe coming months will be spent at theMAES, though he has retained his ties tothe CVM where he currently serves asassociate dean and professor of large ani-mal sciences. MSU is conducting a

Research in the news

Acting Director Enjoys Debunking Experiment Station Stereotypes

John C. Baker

30 | FUTURES

national search, with the goal of having apermanent director of the MAES in placeby fall 2005.

MSU, the nation’s pioneer land-grantuniversity, has been a permanent fixturein Michigan for 150 years. Baker seemspleased that his stint at the MAES coin-cides with the university’s sesquicentenni-al anniversary. “I think it’s important forfaculty, administrators, staff and studentsto help the university formulate its future

vision and to step up and take on newresponsibilities when asked,” he said.

When asked about the type of theactivities supported by the MAES, Bakerflips past the maps in the annual report.He notes that the MAES partially funds thework of more than 350 researchers inmore than 20 academic departments,research centers and campus laboratories.

“The span of influence at the MAES isgreater than that of any single MSU

college,” he said. “I’ll know a lot moreabout MSU by the time he heads back tothe CVM next fall.”

If his well-thumbed annual report isany indication, Baker’s colleagues, friendsand neighbors will know a lot more aboutthe university, as well — especially aboutthe MAES.

::: Geoff Koch

Research in the news

Chicken Genome Analysis WillBenefit Human Health andAgriculture

We may soon be thanking MichiganState University chicken No. 256 for bettertreatments or even new vaccines for theflu and other human ailments.

As the first bird and the first agricultur-al animal to have its genome sequenced,the chicken is paving the way for researchon human diseases, as well as studies onchicken breeding to benefit agriculture.An international consortium of scientiststhat includes an MAES researcher ana-lyzed the chicken genome and publisheda paper in the Dec. 9 issue of the Britishscience journal Nature.

The first draft of the chicken genomewas placed into free public databases foruse by researchers around the world inMarch 2004.

The bird whose genome wassequenced, a red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) known by her wing band number,256, still lives on the MSU campus in afacility that serves the lab of JerryDodgson, MAES microbiology and molec-ular genetics researcher, who has workedon mapping the chicken genome for thepast 17 years. At 7, she’s quite old for achicken and is oblivious to the impor-tance of her contributions to science.

No. 256 was chosen as the genomemodel because she’s from an inbred line;this makes her genome more uniformthan non-inbred chickens. Also, red jun-gle fowl represents the wild type speciesfrom which all domestic chickens came.A female was chosen because femalebirds contain a sex chromosome (calledW) that male birds lack. She also provid-ed DNA used to create recombinant DNA

clone maps of the chicken genome.Those maps provided the framework forthe much more detailed genomesequence assembly.

“Chickens and humans are, in somecases, infected by the same viruses, bacte-ria and parasites,” said Dodgson, one ofthe coordinators of the InternationalChicken Genome SequencingConsortium, which sequenced and ana-lyzed the red jungle fowl genome. “Theresearch shows that chickens and humansshare more than half of their genes. Thechicken genome sequence is expected tohelp us uncover genes that enhance natu-ral disease resistance in birds. Then wecan see if those same genes are inhumans.”

Widely used in biomedical research,the chicken is an important model forvaccine production and the study ofembryology and development, as well asfor research into the connection betweenviruses and some types of cancer.

Dodgson said the sequenced genomemay someday allow poultry producers toknow why certain chickens lay more eggsthan others or why certain broiler chick-ens may have less fat. They then can iden-tify commercial chickens with the samegenetic predisposition to these desirabletraits.

“If we know the genes that influencethese traits, we can select for chickensthat better meet consumer demand and,at the same time, are healthier, them-selves,” he said.

“The chicken genome fills a crucial gapin our scientific knowledge,” said FrancisS. Collins, director of the National HumanGenome Research Institute, which is partof the National Institutes of Health, which

funded the chicken genome sequencingproject. “Located between mammals andfish on the tree of life, the chicken is wellpositioned to provide us with newinsights into genome evolution andhuman biology. By comparing thegenomes of a wide range of animals, wecan better understand the structure andfunction of human genes and, ultimately,develop new strategies to improve humanhealth.”

“Having the chicken genomesequenced is a fundamental tool fordoing research in chicken genetics,”Dodgson explained. “Now, whatever traitwe want to look at — whether it’s resist-ance to a virus or how the bird respondsto a new type of feed — we can home inon the genetic component.”

He compared biologists’ knowing thegenome sequence to a sociologist’s want-ing to study the population of New YorkCity and using a telephone directory.

“How useful is the phone book for

Jerry Dodgson and chicken No. 256

Fall 2004 | 31

that?” he asked. “It doesn’t provideanswers on its own, but it does give you asummary of who’s there and how to reachthem. It’s a starting point for asking andanswering all the more complex ques-tions. That’s what sequencing the genomedoes for us — now we know where all thegenes are, and we can analyze them andfind out what they do.”

Researchers estimate that the chickenhas between 20,000 and 23,000 genes inits 1 billion DNA base pairs. The humancount is 20,000 to 25,000 genes in 2.8 bil-lion DNA base pairs.

Like all birds, chickens are thought tohave descended from dinosaurs in themiddle of the Mesozoic period and haveevolved separately from mammals for atleast 310 million years. Chickens werefirst domesticated in Asia, perhaps asearly as 8000 B.C.

The consortium was made up of morethan 175 scientists from China, Denmark,France, Germany, Japan, Poland,Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,the United Kingdom and the UnitedStates.

Canola Study Solves Seed OilMystery

An MAES scientist is part of an MSUteam that uncovered a previouslyunknown metabolic mechanism used byplants to create seed oil.

The results, described in the Dec. 9issue of Nature, the British science jour-nal, address a longstanding question inplant biology — why do oilseed plantsrely on a seemingly inefficient metabolicprocess to produce such prodigiousamount of energy-rich oil? The answer,according to the MSU team, is that plantseeds are more efficient than anyonethought.

“Seeds achieve this high efficiency byusing long-known biochemical reactionsthat are combined in an unconventionalway, which had not been expected by bio-chemists,” said Jörg Schwender, MSUplant biology professor and lead author ofthe study. MAES plant biologist and uni-versity distinguished professor JohnOhlrogge was one of the paper’s co-authors.

The researchers studied canola, anannual crop in the mustard family that is

widely cultivated throughout the UpperMidwest, Canada, Europe and Asia. Theoil extracted from the seeds of this plantis used to make everything from mar-garine to industrial lubricants.

Seeds store large oil reserves to use asenergy when the time comes to germinateand grow. In canola, for example, oil cancomprise half of the seed’s weight.

People have long exploited these oil-rich plants. People in India and Chinahave processed canola seeds into oil forcooking and lamps for 4,000 years.

In more recent history, the rise of mod-ern biochemistry over the last fewdecades has increased interest in makingquantitative descriptions of plants andanimals’ biochemical reactions.

When it came to canola, the biochemi-cal balance sheet just didn’t add up. As faras researchers could tell, the seeds wererelying on an inefficient pathway to pro-duce their sought-after oil.

All plants use carbon from carbondioxide, a basic part of the Earth’s atmos-phere, to make compounds such as sug-ars, oils and proteins in stems, leaves andflowers.

To harvest carbon from the air, plantsgo to a lot of trouble to convert carbondioxide into simple sugars. When canolathen transformed these sugars into oils,the plants appeared to give off largeamounts of carbon dioxide.

In its research, the MSU team taggedcarbon atoms and tracked how they wereprocessed by developing canola seeds.

During the conversion of sugars to oils,researchers expected to see the taggedcarbon go through a step-by-step series ofchemical reactions known as glycolysis,used by all plants and animals to turnsugar into energy and cellular buildingblocks. This energy, in turn, is used to linkthe carbon building blocks into moleculesof oil.

Instead, the scientists observed anenzyme called Rubisco providing a moreefficient pathway to convert sugar to carbon chains for oil. And the pathwayinvolved much less carbon dioxide emission.

Scientists have long known that in theprocess of photosynthesis, Rubisco is thekey enzyme that captures atmosphericcarbon dioxide for conversion into sugars.

However, the MSU team was surprisedto see Rubisco — the enzyme’s shorthandstands for ribulose bisphosphate carboxy-lase/oxygenase — also acting as a keyagent producing oil in the seed.

In fact, in terms of metabolic heavy-lifting, Rubisco appeared to be muchmore efficient than glycolysis. The newlyuncovered Rubisco bypass pathway pro-duced 20 percent more of the carbonchain building blocks to make oil whilelosing 40 percent less carbon dioxide thanis lost during glycolysis.

The results cast new light on the seem-ingly well-understood protein Rubisco,which accounts for 50 percent of a plant’stotal protein content and is likely themostly abundant protein on Earth.

Through its role in grabbing carbonatoms from atmospheric carbon dioxide,Rubisco has been recognized as the mainchemical gateway for carbon to enter thebiosphere. The new findings suggest thatRubisco also gives plants a way to greatlyreduce losses back to the atmospherewhile they’re synthesizing oil.

In addition to enzymes, plants needenergy for all this carbon-culling. Theycapture it using chlorophyll, a moleculeresponsible for plants’ green coloring.Chlorophyll uses energy from sunlight tomake sugars and other compounds inplants.

It takes lots of light energy to capturecarbon dioxide, which is why plants havebroad canopies of light-catching leaves.The Rubisco pathway that operates inseeds also requires light energy, but only afraction of the energy needed by leaves.

In fact, the small amounts of chloro-phyll in a canola seed, which has a diam-eter of about one-eighth of an inch, maygrab enough sun energy to switch on theRubisco-only reaction.

“Understanding the pathways plantsuse to make oil will help us to developnew crop varieties with greater oil con-tent,” said Ohlrogge. “And this becomesespecially important as the worlddepletes its supplies of petroleum.”

New Pheromone Creates Buzzabout the Clout of Older Bees

A recent discovery by an MAES scien-tist has unveiled the chemical secret thatgives old bees the authority to keep young

Research in the news

32 | FUTURES

bees home babysitting instead of goingout on the town.

A hard-to-detect pheromone explainsa phenomenon that MAES entomologistZachary Huang described in a paper 12years ago — that somehow older foragerbees exert influence over the youngernurse bees in a hive, keeping themgrounded until they are more mature andthus more ready to handle the demandsof buzzing about.

The work that identifies the chemical,“Regulation of Behavioral Maturation inHoney Bees by a New PrimerPheromone,” was published inProceedings of the National Academy ofScience Biological Sciences, PopulationBiology, Early Edition, in November.

“If the older ones don’t keep them incheck, the young ones can mature tooquickly,” Huang said. “It’s kind of thesame thing as with people — you needthe elders to check on the young. Even ifthe young are physically able to go out ontheir own, it’s not the best situation forthe bees, and now we know how it works.”

Huang worked with a team from theUnited States, France and Canada toexplain how the bees keep an exquisitelyconsistent balance between the ones thatgo out to collect nectar and pollen anddefend the hive, and those that stay homeand nurture the larvae. Huang had docu-mented that this balance is controlled bythe elder bees, those that typically spendthe final one to three weeks of their five-week lifespan out in the field.

Experiments showed that if a signifi-

cant number of forager bees didn’t comehome, the young nurse bees wouldmature ahead of schedule and head outto become foragers themselves. If theolder bees were kept inside more thanusual — as in an extended rain shower —fewer young bees would mature butinstead stick to brood care.

But the question was always why?Huang and his colleagues suspected apheromone might be responsible.Pheromones are chemical signals emittedby animals, insects and humans. Some,called releaser pheromones, are like aquick conversation that changes behav-ior, such as those that inspire sexualattraction. Others, called primerpheromones, cause behavioral changesover a much longer time period, takingdays or weeks to have an effect.

Because releasers change behaviorimmediately, they historically have beeneasier to identify. Hundreds of releaserpheromones have been chemically identi-fied, whereas only four (including thisnew one) primer pheromones have beenidentified.

Huang and his associates spent yearsfutilely searching for a primerpheromone. After many dead ends, thegroup came upon a crucial differencebetween forager bees and nurse bees: for-ager bees carry a large amount of thechemical ethyl oleate in the abdominalreservoir in which they store nectar.

That, Huang said, led them to identifyethyl oleate as a primer pheromone.

Forager bees load up on ethyl oleatewhen they’re buzzing about gatheringfood, but they don’t digest it. The foragerbees then feed the chemical to the nursebees, and it keeps the nurses in some-thing similar to a teen-age state.

As the old bees die off, the chemical nolonger is fed to the nurse bees. Eliminateethyl oleate and the bees mature into foragers.

Huang said the system makes sense forthe health of the hive. Young bees —those in the first two to three weeks of life— are biologically better suited for broodcare, thanks to some boosted blood pro-tein. Bees forced out too early aren’t greatnavigators, and because foraging is dan-gerous, they risk dying before their time.

“Our idea has never been disproved,

but the lack of mechanism drove mecrazy,” Huang said. “Now we know thespecific chemical that controls the behav-ior of honey bees for the good of thewhole population.”

MAES Research Shows HowCommon Soil Minerals Might MopUp Pesticides

New research by an MAES scientistsuggests that dousing soils with solutionsrich in everyday minerals and salts mighthelp soils more effectively soak up pesti-cides and other organic contaminants.

The work, detailed in a recent issue ofthe journal Environmental Science &Technology, shows that the sponge-likeproperties of soil clays can be changed,especially by tweaking concentrations ofnaturally occurring potassium.

The new findings by Stephen A. Boyd,MAES crop and soil sciences researcher,and colleagues at MSU and PurdueUniversity, may help build models thatbetter explain the role of basic minerals inthe spread of pollutants in soils. These, inturn, may lead to more effective phytore-mediation — the use of plants to removecontaminants from the soil.

“This chemistry provides the basis toreliably and inexpensively control theleaching of important classes of contami-nants and to improve the effectiveness ofbioremediation technologies such as phy-toremediation,” Boyd said.

This is how it works: The minerals inthe soil initially soak up the pollutants.Over time, however, the minerals slowlyrelease their grip on the pollutants. Thisslow release makes it easier for the plantsused in phytoremediation to remove thecontaminants from the soil.

In their research, Boyd and colleaguesmixed common clay with varying potassi-um and calcium concentrations and thentested how the various recipes respondedto three pesticides. Soil minerals interactwith and bind to all sorts of chemicals, soit was no surprise that the soils with moreions did a better job of soaking up thecontaminants.

What was surprising, Boyd said, werethe differences between potassium andcalcium in holding contaminants.Depending on the pesticide, potassium-soaked soil proved to have between four

Research in the news

Zachary Huang

Fall 2004 | 33

and 75 times the sponge-like ability of soilsoaked with calcium.

“A little potassium goes a long way,”Boyd said. “Small increases in potassiumconcentration made the soil sample sig-nificantly more absorptive.”

X-ray diffraction helped explain why,he said. X-ray images show that, at lowconcentrations, potassium ions aren’tdistributed evenly through the soil. Whenthe concentration gets high enough, theminiscule spaces between soils’ basicbuilding blocks become potassium-satu-rated, and soon the entire soil cross-sec-tion starts soaking up pesticide.

In their paper, the authors alsodescribe several potential applications oftheir findings, including more environ-mentally friendly techniques to applypesticides and more effective ways toclean up contaminated soil.

Genetic Quirk, Detective Work Yield New Bean

Don’t let the name fool you — the newRedcoat bean is mostly white. More inter-esting than Redcoat’s moniker, however,is how researchers from the MAESsleuthed to Texas and back and delvedinto DNA to discover it. Because of theirwork, dishes from vegetarian chili to beanburgers might have a new, lighter look inthe future.

“The opportunity to commercialize amutant bean which we would never haveworked on directly is a nice surprise,given that bean variety development isusually a 10-year program,” said Jim Kelly,MAES crop and soil scientist. Kelly is co-author of two papers describing Redcoatdevelopment that will appear in the jour-

nal HortScience in 2005.The Redcoat bean is part of the family

of Soldier beans, so named because theirred markings look like the uniforms wornby 18th century European soldiers.Redcoat is an addition to the Michigandry bean market, which also includesnavy, small white, black turtle, pinto,cranberry and yellow eye beans.

Collectively, these beans are big busi-ness in Michigan. The Great Lakes Stategrows more dry beans by weight — nearly400 million pounds per year — than anyother state except North Dakota. Over theyears, work done by the MAES has led tonew disease-resistant bean varieties thatthrive in Michigan’s sometimes harsh cli-mate.

In 1999, MAES scientists obtainedseeds for basic red kidney beans from aTexas supplier. Researchers planted theseeds in northern Michigan, and most ofthe plants did, in fact, produce the prom-ised red beans. However, a small fractionproduced beans with striking whitesplotches.

The researchers first suspected that thecoloring had a prosaic explanation — per-haps stray seeds from white bean plantshad gotten mixed in with the seeds inTexas, or cross-pollination had occurredwith fields of white bean plants in thenearby area.

However, when the MAES teamsearched the area in northern Michiganwhere the new red and white bean turnedup, they found no cross-pollination sus-pects, such as other Soldier bean vari-eties. And when they infected the plantswith two common bean diseases, theRedcoat beans behaved more like otherred kidney beans than white beans.

Over the years, red kidney beans havebeen bred to resist the diseases picked bythe scientists — common mosaic virusand anthracnose. Redcoat provedimmune to infection as well, even thoughthese diseases are often lethal to plantsproducing other Soldier bean varieties.

“Redcoat has the best yield potential ofany Soldier bean,” said Greg Varner,research director of the Michigan DryBean Research Board and co-author ofone of the HortScience papers.

What about the possibility of a mix-upin Texas? The MAES team inquired and

learned that the Texas supplier had handpicked the beans sent to Michigan. Theentire batch contained nothing but beanswith the familiar, uniform red coloring.

It’s uniformly true that most livingorganisms carry two copies of each gene.With other explanations ruled out, MAESscientists began suspecting that one copyof the bean color gene had mutated. Theythought that the other gene had remainednormal and still contained instructionsfor making red beans. Often, one normalgene is enough to mask the effects of amutation. This would explain why all theTexas seeds were red.

Random mutations, changes in DNAstructure in the cells of a living organism,happen all the time. Most mutations haveno effect on the organism or its offspring,and some prove harmful to the organism.Only a small fraction of mutations turnout to be advantageous. In this case, thebig advantage is for bean lovers whomight see a kidney-bean-flavored red andwhite bean in their local markets withinthe next few years.

It took several years’ work in campusgreenhouses, but the MAES scientistsfinally confirmed their suspicions. Thenew coloring was indeed the result of arare beneficial mutation of a single genein the bean’s DNA.

“The single gene mutation of seed coatcolor pattern means that an entirely newclass has the same valuable attributespresent in the commercial red kidney classthat breeders have worked on for morethan a hundred years at MSU,” Kelly said.The mystery is solved and the new bean isnow available under license from MSU.

New MAES Faculty MembersThe MAES is pleased to announce the

appointment of the following new facultymembers.

Katherine Alaimo was appointedassistant professor of food science andhuman nutrition in July. Her researchfocuses on hunger in the United Statesand its consequences for children; com-munity food security; the benefits ofurban agriculture/community gardeningfor public health, neighborhood socialcapital and urban redevelopment; pro-moting healthy eating and physical activi-ty through policies and environments;

Research in the news

34 | FUTURES

and community-based participatoryresearch.

She received her doctoral and master’sdegrees in community nutrition fromCornell University in 2002 and 1997,respectively, and her bachelor’s degree innutritional science from Cornell in 1991.

Jose Cibelli, who has been at MSU asprofessor of animal science physiologyand endowed chair for large animalbiotechnology since January 2003,received an MAES appointment in July2004. An internationally recognizedexpert on stem cell research, Cibellifocuses on embryonic stem cell cloningfrom animals, but he has expertise in allareas of cloning. In February, he helpedvalidate groundbreaking research of sci-entists in Korea who created humanembryos through cloning without fertil-ization. The results were published in thejournal Science. In April, he was part of abriefing in Geneva organized by Italianmembers of the European Parliament andthe Luca Coscioni Association forFreedom of Scientific Research andTreatment, a group of scientists andactivists concerned that the UnitedNations would vote to ban human stemcell research for therapeutic purposes.

Cibelli was part of the team responsiblefor the generation of the world’s firsttransgenic cloned calves, the first embry-onic stem cells by nuclear transfer and thefirst embryonic stem cells by partheno-genesis in primates. He has published inScience, Nature Biotechnology, NatureMedicine and PNAS. He has testified aboutnuclear transfer and stem cells in publicforums sponsored by the U.S. Food andDrug Administration, the NationalAcademy of Sciences, the Canadian Houseof Commons and the U.S. Department ofAgriculture. Cibelli is also the editor of thebook Principles of Cloning published byAcademic Press in 2002.

From October 1999 until December2002, Cibelli was the vice president forresearch at Advanced Cell Technology inWorcester, Mass. He did his undergradu-ate work in his native Argentina andreceived a doctorate in veterinary medi-cine from the University of La Plata in1989 and a doctorate in reproductivephysiology from the University ofMassachusetts in 1998.

Ning Jiang was named assistant pro-fessor of horticulture and affiliated MAESscientist in August. Her research exploresthe function of transposable elements —the “jumping genes” of plants — tounderstand the forces underlying genomediversification. She co-authored a paperin the Sept. 30 edition of the British sci-ence journal Nature on mutator-liketransposable elements (MULEs). Of those,she has found that some carry fragmentsof cellular genes with them — dubbedpack-MULEs. The first pack-MULE shefound in a piece of rice sequence was car-rying the gene that triggers cold respons-es in a plant. Jiang is continuing to look atpack-MULEs to try to better understandtheir role in evolution. She also willexplore other questions, such as the com-mon use of MULEs in gene tagging, theprocess of interrupting a gene to under-stand its function.

Jiang received her doctorate in plantbiology from the University of Georgia in2002, her master’s degree in plant physiol-ogy from Yangzhou University, China, in1986 and her bachelor’s degree in plantphysiology and biochemistry fromNanjing University, China, in 1983.

Merritt Turetsky was named assistantprofessor of fisheries and wildlife andplant biology in August.

Turetsky is a wetland ecologist andbiogeochemist. Her research focuses onmonitoring ecosystem function in wet-lands and boreal landscapes. She is inter-ested in climatic and managementimpacts on wetland structure and func-tion, quantifying carbon pools in ecosys-tems vulnerable to global change, and theconnections of plant physiology and evo-lution to biogeochemical cycling.

Turetsky received her doctoral degreein ecology and environmental biology in2002 from the University of Alberta,where she focused on carbon storage andfluxes in peatlands. She came to MSUfrom the U.S. Geological Survey, whereshe was a Mendenhall postdoctoral fellowfrom 2002 to 2004.

Ryan Warner was named assistant pro-fessor of horticulture in September. Hisresearch focuses on understanding themechanisms plants use to tolerate stress— specifically, how flowers tolerate hightemperatures. This area is part of his

broader research goal, which is toimprove production efficiency in green-house crops.

Warner received his doctorate inapplied plant sciences and his master’sdegree in horticultural science, from theUniversity of Minnesota in 2004 and 1999,respectively. He received his bachelor’sdegree in horticulture from MichiganState in 1996.

MAES Forestry Scientist, StudentWin Best Paper

MAES researchers have taken a closelook at the wood and plastic goo that goesinto making today’s wood substitutebuilding materials. What they learnedmight soon improve the durability, safetyand price of everything from backyarddecks to window blinds.

The scientists, MAES forestryresearcher Laurent Matuana and doctoralstudent Bhavesh Shah, studied how vari-ous recipes of chemicals and wood parti-cles affect the finished quality of increas-ingly common wood/plastic composites.Matuana and Shah presented their resultsat the May 2004 Society of PlasticsEngineers annual conference in Chicago,where Shah won the best student paperaward in the society’s vinyl division. Thepaper was published in the Septemberissue of the Journal of Vinyl & AdditiveTechnology.

Interest in wood/plastic composites ison the rise because of new EnvironmentalProtection Agency (EPA) regulations onpressure-treated wood. As of Dec. 30,2003, the once common chromated cop-per arsenate, or CCA, can no longer beused to treat wood that’s used nearhomes. EPA regulators are concerned thatarsenic in CCA, which slowly seeps fromwood over time, may pose health risks.Children, especially, could be at riskbecause they spend more time outsidethan adults do and more frequently putunwashed hands into their mouths.

“Currently, there are 45 companiesproducing wood/plastic composites(WPCs) in North America, and almost 12percent of this production takes place inMichigan,” Matuana said. “One of thebiggest producers of WPCs, CertainTeedCorp., is located in Jackson.”

Research in the news

Fall 2004 | 35

Rick and Karen BatoraDaisyDell Farm and Market5556 East M-21St. Johns, MI 48879989-834-2400erbatora@mutualdata.com

Bob BoehmManagerCommodity and MarketingDepartmentMichigan Farm Bureau7373 West Saginaw HighwayP.O. Box 30960Lansing, MI 48909-8460517-323-7000

Don CoeBlack Star Farms10844 East Revold RoadSuttons Bay, MI 49682231-271-4884info@blackstarfarms.com

Keith CreaghDeputy DirectorMichigan Department of AgricultureP.O. Box 30017Lansing, MI 48909517-335-3402

Jim HancockProfessor of HorticultureA342 Plant and Soil SciencesBuilding, MSU517-355-5191, ext. 387hancock@msu.edu

Joe HermanKarma Vista Winery6991 Ryno RoadColoma, MI 49038269-468-9463info@karmavista.com

Stan HowellProfessor of HorticultureA40 Plant and Soil SciencesBuilding, MSU517-355-5191, ext. 311howell@msu.edu

Jim IrelandProfessor of Animal Science1230C Anthony Hall, MSU517-432-1384ireland@msu.edu

Linda JonesExecutive DirectorMichigan Grape and Wine IndustryCouncilP.O. Box 30017Lansing, MI 48909-7517517-373-9789

Tom KalchikAssociate DirectorMSU Product Center for Agricultureand Natural ResourcesSuite 210 Hannah Building, MSU517-432-8752kalchikt@msue.msu.edu

Ralph KingExecutive DirectorMichigan Coalition of Black Farmers11000 W. McNichols, Suite 212Detroit, MI 48221313-340-1982mcbf_ccdo@sbcglobal.net

Bill KnudsonProduct Marketing EconomistMSU Product Center for Agricultureand Natural Resources84 Agriculture Hall, MSU517-355-2176knudsonw@msu.edu

Phil KorsonPresidentCherry Marketing InstituteP.O. Box 30285Lansing, MI 48909-7785517-669-4264pkorson@cherrymkt.org

Ben KudwaExecutive DirectorMichigan Potato Industry CommissionMichigan Carrot Committee13109 Schavey Road, Suite #7DeWitt, MI 48820517-669-8377ben@mipotato.com

Gene MeylanSugar Beet GrowerKawkawlin, MI989-798-0401

Dave MillerSt. Julian Wine Company716 South Kalamazoo St.Paw Paw, MI 49079269-657-5568wines@stjulian.com

Dianne NovakProject Services CoordinatorMSU Product Center for Agricultureand Natural ResourcesSuite 210 Hannah Building, MSU517-432-8754novakd@msu.edu

Osman PatelVisiting ScholarDepartment of Animal Science1230 Anthony Hall, MSU517-432-1456patelo@msu.edu

H. Christopher PetersonProfessor of Agricultural Economicsand Nowlin Chair of Consumer-Responsive Agriculture;Director, MSU Product Center forAgriculture and Natural Resources83 Agriculture Hall, MSU517-355-1813peters17@msu.edu

Steve PoindexterMSUE Sugar Beet AgentSaginaw County Extension1 Tuscola Street, Suite 100Saginaw, MI 48607989-758-2500poindex2@msu.edu

Annemiek SchilderAssistant Professor of Plant Pathology104 CIPS, MSU517-355-0483schilder@msu.edu

Mike ScoreMSUE Agricultural AgentWashtenaw County Extension705 North Zeeb RoadP.O. Box 8645Ann Arbor, MI 48107734-997-1678 scorem@msue.msu.edu

George W. SmithAssociate Professor of AnimalScience1230D Anthony Hall, MSU517-432-5401smithge7@msu.edu

John SperoSugar Beet GrowerBirch Run, MI989-777-2757

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