The annual event briefs MFB members on key state issues and gives them an opportunity to meet with their elected officials for one-on-one discussions of how legislation may impact the agriculture industry. The legislative briefings and subsequent discussions with lawmakers all evolve around MFB member-developed policy.

The seminar takes place at the Lansing Center, just two blocks from the state Capitol. It kicks off at 11 a.m. with legislative briefings and other programming scheduled throughout the afternoon. All state legislators are invited to a reception from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Top issues to be discussed during the day include the state budget and appropriations, property tax, and multiple water issues.

"We know there will be budget cuts. The question is how do you deal with them," said Ron Nelson, manager of the MFB State Governmental Affairs Department. "For instance, one way to raise revenue is through fees, which MFB opposes. Another way to raise money is through the Agricultural Enhancement Package, which MFB supports."

The bottom line, though, is there are certain vitally important agricultural programs that need to be adequately funded - one of which is protection against animal and plant diseases, said Nelson.

"Agriculture continues to face a series of animal and plant diseases," he said. "Some, like bovine tuberculosis, are zoonotic in that they can spread between animals and humans. Others like emerald ash borer are economic in that while they don't transmit to humans, they cause devastating losses for the industry. We need adequate funding for testing, researching and diagnosing these and other severe animal and plant diseases."

Also up for discussion will be multiple water use issues ranging from the governor's Water Legacy initiative to the state drain code and water quality.

In addition, the seminar will focus on property tax and why farmland in Michigan continues to be taxed at nearly twice the national average.

"We're looking at options for property tax relief, including possibly expanding enrollment in P.A. 116," said Nelson. "Simply put, Michigan Farm Bureau policy calls for a goal of agricultural property being taxed at a rate of $5 to $7 an acre."

The seminar is expected to attract 400 people.

The Lansing Legislative Seminar is a perfect opportunity to interview both legislators and farmers about state issues impacting agriculture, Michigan's No. 2 industry. It's also a great photo opportunity to capture the grassroots networking of farmers with their elected officials.

Media is invited to attend the Legislator Reception from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Media interested in covering the seminar but unable to attend this portion should make other arrangements with Jill Corrin, Media Support Services manager, at (800) 292-2680, ext. 6585.

"It's unfortunate that the NRC wasn't able to hold firm in the first winter after implementing the ban," said Rob Anderson, MFB legislative counsel. "We understand that people feel sympathy and are compelled to feed deer to help their survival through a harsh winter. But now's the time when the NRC needed to hold firm to its original decision, rather than reverse course less than one year later based on social concerns rather than disease risk."

Last Friday, the NRC approved an interim order allowing residents in certain parts of the Upper Peninsula to apply for permits that would allow supplemental feeding from Jan. 1 through May 15 as long as certain conditions were met. The eligible counties are: Ontonagon, Houghton, Keweenaw, Baraga, Alger, Luce and portions of Marquette and Chippewa counties north of the T43N-T44N boundary line.

Back in June 2002, the NRC, in response to concerns about the potential spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD), voted to ban supplemental deer feeding in U.P. counties that border Wisconsin and extend the supplemental feeding ban to all of the Upper Peninsula beginning May 2003. At that time, supplemental feeding was already banned in the Lower Peninsula as a firewall against the spread of bovine tuberculosis (TB).

MFB member-developed policy supports a statewide ban on feeding and baiting of free-ranging deer.

"We know that supplemental feeding is a prime way for animals to transmit disease," said Anderson. "No matter how much the public may desire to feed deer, it's a luxury we simply can't afford when there's even the slightest chance of spreading devastating diseases like TB and CWD."

The more responsible move, said Anderson, would have been for the NRC to remain firm, reinforce the reasons why the ban was put in place and allow time for review.

The newest order is valid for one year.

"We hope the NRC will give as much weight to scientific facts about disease spread as it did to human emotion when it reviews the order in a year," said Dave Bahrman, a Rumely cash crop and livestock producer who represents U.P. farmers on the MFB Board of Directors.

The NRC order takes some agricultural concerns into consideration. For instance, one condition of a permit being granted states that feed must be placed at least one mile from livestock.

But with these conditions comes proper enforcement, said Anderson. "Enforcing a statewide ban is easier than allowing some feeding that opens up the possibility of the system being abused," he said.

According to preliminary 2002 agricultural census data compiled by the federal National Agricultural Statistics Service, land in farms in Michigan dropped by 360,929 acres since the last agricultural census of 1997, representing a conversion rate of eight acres an hour during the five-year period. (See note below for description of methodology changes.)

"This preliminary information suggests the rate of farmland conversion remains high," said Jim Fuerstenau, executive director of the MFCA, which is a Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) affiliate dedicated exclusively to farmland preservation.

Michigan Department of Agriculture Director Dan Wyant agrees. "The 2002 census is an indication that farmland loss continues to have a significant impact on our farmland base in Michigan," Wyant said. "Ongoing erosion of our production agricultural base will challenge Michigan agriculture's long-term viability and underscores the importance of farmland preservation programs and policies."

The cumulative impact of urban sprawl to Michigan's agricultural land base has resulted in a decrease of 1,430,289 acres since 1982. "That means nearly 1.5 million acres of decreased opportunity to agriculture and the people of Michigan as a whole," said Fuerstenau.

This 13 percent decrease in farmland has an even greater impact when considered proportionally to the agricultural industry and rural communities. "Agriculture is an industry," said Fuerstenau. "And farmland is a natural resource that functions best when it is kept in large usable blocks that are truly on a landscape-size scale."

The pattern of development in Michigan, however, is fragmenting the land base and turning much of the agricultural land base into quasi-rural settings where farmland parcels are broken up and mixed with non-farm related residential housing, said Fuerstenau.

"(The census) confirms what we have all known for a while now, agriculture is changing and those changes pose challenges to the industry and the families who make up Michigan's farming community," said Speaker of the House Rick Johnson (R-LeRoy) in a statement.

"It is critical that leaders at all levels work together to put in place policies that make farming more profitable - like the Agriculture Enhancement package and taxation on the use value of land - and stop imposing fees and regulations like the water withdrawal and discharge fees proposed by the governor that make it more expensive and difficult to operate a profitable farm," said Johnson.

MFCA mission
Part of MFCA's annual meeting was devoted to recognizing the organization's five-year anniversary. MFCA was formed in 1998 based on policy developed by MFB members.

"This whole thing really began five years ago as a way to research and fund Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) programs," said Fuerstenau. "But the Michigan Farm Bureau Special Farmland Preservation Committee soon realized that farmland preservation was more than PDR. It discovered farmland preservation is not that simple."

Today, MFCA concentrates on a wide range of services, including PDR program development and technical assistance, county Farm Bureau Land Use Committee organization and support, farmland preservation educational materials, policy and advocacy, and stakeholder education and collaboration.

The services fall into three general programs:

• Farmland Legacies - A program that assists landowners in identifying options for preserving their farmland.
• Land Use Action Network - A program that supports a statewide, grassroots network connecting people, organization and communities with information, education and leadership development resources to preserve farmland.
• Strategic Partnerships - A program that develops strategic organizational relationships to promote an understanding of Michigan's farmland preservation issues.

Looking to the future and acknowledging the state's current budget constraints, Wood, a Marlette dairy farmer who also heads MFB, told MFCA members the organization will have to be innovative in how it accomplishes its goals. "Will we be able to save all the farmland? No. But agriculture is Michigan's No. 2 economic engine, and we'll remain passionate in seeing that agriculture and the resources needed to support the industry survive," he said.

The meeting concluded with the election of two new directors and the re-election of eight directors to one-year terms on the MFCA Board of Directors.

Newly elected were Joshua Wunsch, a Traverse City fruit grower, and Patrick McGuire, a fruit and vegetable producer from Atwood in Antrim County.

Wood was re-elected president. Farmers also re-elected were Alan Garner of Lansing, vice-president; Mike Fusilier of Manchester; Paul Koeman of Hamilton; and Brigette Leach of Climax. Also re-elected were Glen Chown, of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, Chuck Eckenstahler of the Public Consulting Team in Benton Harbor, and Scott Griffith of E.R.A. Griffith Realty in Brighton.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) introduced new methodology with the 2002 Census of Agriculture.

NASS discovered that many small operations and women and minority operators were under represented on the mail list it used to solicit information on the census survey. These operations were meeting the official definition of a farm or ranch but were not included because those operators' names did not appear on any list of agricultural producers or farm program recipients.

NASS canvassed sample areas throughout the nation to test the list names it had against all qualifying operations in those areas. As a result of the change in methodology, the total farmland acres in Michigan reported in the 2002 Census of Agriculture are 10,083,000, or about 550,000 more than would have been recorded using previous methodology. The loss of 360,929 acres takes into account the definition change for 1997 data as well.

The freshman-level scholarship is for high school seniors, currently enrolled as an FFA member, with an interest in teaching agriscience and natural resources education. These seniors would apply to the college's Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (formerly Agriculture and Natural Resources Education and Communication Systems).

Anyone needing more information should contact David Krueger, MSU assistant professor, at (517) 355-6580, ext. 221.

William Dewitt, of South Haven, was also reappointed as an alternate public member.

The council is composed of nine producers, one importer, one handler, one public member, and one exporter from the foreign production area that exports the most blueberries to the United States. Each member has an alternate.

The council administers the Blueberry Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Order under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service. The order authorizes the council to conduct a coordinated program of promotion, research, and consumer and industry information to maintain and expand the market for cultivated blueberries.

The program provides financial and technical assistance to communities affected by the loss of tree cover. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service has awarded Michigan $1.2 million for tree planting efforts in fiscal year 2004.

Grant applications are accepted from local units of government in the 13 quarantined counties of Genesee, Ingham, Jackson, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Shiawassee, Washtenaw and Wayne.

Grant applications must be received by March 5 to be considered for funding. Projects must be completed by May 31, 2005. All grants require matching funds of at least 50 percent. The match may be cash contributions or in-kind services, but may not include federal or state funds. Grants up to $20,000 each will be awarded on a competitive basis and applicants are ranked according to local EAB impact.

For more information or to obtain a grant application, contact Kevin Sayers, urban and community forester, at (517) 241-4632, DNR Forest, Mineral and Fire Management Division, PO Box 30452, Lansing, MI 48909-7952, or visit the Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr.

Thomas O'Brien of Ann Arbor was appointed to represent the general public for a term expiring Aug. 29, 2007. He succeeds Sharon Steffens whose term has expired. O'Brien is an attorney for O'Brien & O'Brien and owner of a sesquicentennial farm in Northfield Township.

Helen Taylor of Okemos was appointed to represent conservation interests for a term expiring Aug. 29, 2007. She succeeds James Goodheart whose term has expired. Taylor is director of the Michigan Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

Public Act 262 of 2000 calls for the board to provide grants to eligible local units of government for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements to preserve farmland. It also calls for the board to provide funds for the state Purchase of Development Rights Program if a fund balance of greater than $5 million remains after making grants to local units of government and providing for administrative costs.

The survey provides vital statistics about the economic condition of production agriculture. The data is a resource when policymakers determine federal assistance for agriculture.

Michigan producers chosen to participate in the survey will represent approximately 130 fellow producers. All individual data collected is held strictly confidential by law. Only statistical totals are published for selected geographic regions and the nation.

Results from the survey will be used by farm and ranch operators, farm organizations, commodity groups, lenders, university researchers, news media, local USDA agencies, farm suppliers and others to compute prices paid, evaluate economic challenges facing America's food and fiber producers, determine the need for farm assistance, measure the cost of agricultural production and assess the ability of producers to maintain sustainable farms.

Farm Production Expenditures, the first report with results from the survey, will be released July 15, 2004. For a copy of the finished report visit the Michigan Agricultural Statistics Service Web site at www.nass.usda.gov/mi or call (800) 453-7501.

The 1800s saw several major advancements in chocolate production and distribution. In 1828, Dutchman Coenraad Van Houten invented the chocolate press, still used today, which squeezes out cocoa butter, making it possible to produce solid chocolate as well as cocoa powder. In 1847, the Fry & Sons Company of Bristol, England, introduced the first chocolate bar meant for eating as a snack. Richard Cadbury (the founder of England's Cadbury chocolate company) introduced a terrific money-making tradition by creating the first Valentine's Day candy box in 1868.

Chocolate contains two stimulants also found in coffee - caffeine and theobromine - but in relatively small amounts. Fifty M&Ms have about as much caffeine as a cup of decaffeinated coffee.

In moderate quantities, chocolate can actually be good for you. A 1.5 ounce chocolate bar contains about the same amount of total phenolic compounds as a 5 ounce serving of red wine. Phenolic compounds, which have antioxidant properties, have been associated with a reduced risk for coronary heart disease.

Chocolate is not good for your pets. Dogs and cats cannot metabolize or excrete theobromine, a mild stimulant found in chocolate. In some pets theobromine can trigger seizures, cardiac irregularity, internal bleeding and can even lead to death.

The word chocolate comes from the Aztec word xocolatl, which means "bitter water." The Aztecs had developed a taste for chocolate from their Maya neighbors to the south. Cacao seed pods, which are used to make chocolate, became key to a vast trade empire of the Aztec people - not only as a luxury item, but also as money, an offering to the gods and a tribute to rulers.