Property owners are the key, it seems, to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s increased surveillance of wild hogs, a step the agency called for after the discovery of a serious, contagious swine disease in one of the animals earlier this summer.
The state’s agribusiness industry stands to lose about 30 percent of its current work force in the next five to 10 years as baby boomers retire, the Michigan Agri-Business Association reports.
A Feral hog infected with pseudo-rabies has been captured and shot in Midland County, says Keith Creagh, director of the state Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
A month spent visiting more than 60 game ranches to hand-deliver information about the looming order that would declare exotic pig species illegal in the state of Michigan netted no more information about how many of the swine might be on those ranches.
Old orchards, vineyards and berry patches are picturesque and appealing spots for country living — or breeding grounds for every pest and illness threatening Michigan’s commercial fruit industry, depending on one’s point of view.
Bad news for fruit growers, though not unexpected. Michigan State University scientists have issued an alert this week to be on the lookout after a single spotted wing Drosophila has been trapped in some ripe black raspberries at a farm in Allegan County.
Thousands of local agricultural jobs, MI tax dollars at risk from invasive species
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) today extended the deadline naming feral swine an invasive species from July 8 to October 8, at the request of Gov. Rick Snyder.
Maybe not as well-covered as celebrity couples, but the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR), combined by the former Gov. Jennifer Granholm administration, are split.
The argument for outlawing feral swine, which can surpass 300 pounds in some cases, has been the damage they do in the wild. They will eat just about anything they come across, and they tear up farmland.
