- State Conservationist Garry Lee

If you've spent any time around me, you know that I'm a sports fan. In fact, I can find a sports analogy to fit almost any occasion or situation. Therefore it was a career highlight for me when the NFL draft was hosted by Detroit and an urban farmer brought football and agriculture together in spectacular fashion.

Detroit urban farmer Travis Peters was a special guest at the NFL draft and announced one of the draft picks for his favorite team, the Pittsburg Steelers. Travis is a U.S. Army veteran who created Green Boots Urban Farm to provide healthy food for his community and "horticulture therapy" for fellow veterans.

Prior to the draft, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Senator Debbie Stabenow, and NFL players including New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis, paid a visit to Green Boots Urban Farm. They were there to present Peters with a GroShed, a self-contained hydroponic growing shed that will allow the farm to grow food year-round. The GroShed was purchased by S.H.I.E.L.D. 1, a non-profit founded by Davis and other NFL players.

Peters started Green Boots in 2019 and has been providing healthy food, grown on once vacant lots, near the home where he grew up. In addition to selling produce from the farm site, Green Boots also provides locally-grown food to local schools. 

Travis participates in the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program. He used EQIP funding to build the farm's high tunnel and is planning to become USDA organically certified utilizing EQIP assistance.

It was an honor to see Travis recognized by the NFL, and also to see Detroit recognized as one of the nation's leaders in urban agriculture.

Walking across the stage to receive a college degree is a great feeling and a commendable accomplishment. Walking off the same stage with a degree, and a job, is an even better feeling.

That was the message State Conservationist Garry Lee delivered to a group of students recently completing a one-month student internship with NRCS. For the second year, a group of students attending high school and college spent a month shadowing NRCS-Michigan field staff through a partnership with Royalty I.D., an organization created by professional rodeo ropers King Pickett and Cory Solomon.

Th ten students from the Royalty I.D. Camp visiting Michigan were hosted by NRCS staff in Ann Arbor, Flint, Paw Paw, Portage, and Saginaw. The students, from Texas, Mississippi, and Florida, were recruited by Royalty I.D. and several had rodeo experience themselves. The idea that young people interested in rodeo may also be interested in a career in agriculture and conservation is bearing fruit.

Ajiah Acreneaux, a 19-year-old college student from Houston, returned to Michigan after participating in the program in 2023. Acreneaux has enjoyed being around animals her whole life and is pursuing a career in agriculture at Prairie View A & M University in Texas. Visits with NRCS staff from the Flint office to an elk farm and another farm with Highland cattle were the highlights of her second summer in Michigan.

The second student hosted by the Flint office, Kaily Wright from the Dallas, Texas area, will be a high school junior in the fall. After participating in the Royalty I.D. program, Wright is interested in pursuing a career in agriculture as well.

For students interested in agriculture, scholarships and internships are available through the USDA. Among them is the Pathways Internship Program which provides paid work experience along with employment after successful completion.

Tyran Hill, hosted by the Saginaw field office, attends Weatherford College in the Dallas area. His experience through Royalty I.D. and seeing the work done by NRCS influenced him to change his career path to agriculture. While he had some experience with livestock learning about crops was new to him. Learning about corn and soybeans and different types of tillage was very different and reinforced his decision to study agriculture, said Hill.

Traveling far away from home without their families was a new experience for many of the visiting students.

“Being 20 hours from home, some people are afraid, I’d recommend to other students to keep your options open,” Acreneaux said.

by Sydney Lance (Grand Rapids Soil Scientist), Matt Bromley (Grand Rapids Soil Survey Office Leader), Trevor Hobbs (Huron-Manistee National Forests Soil Scientist)

The Northeast Grand Rapids and Flint MLRA Soil Survey Offices collaborated with the Huron-Manistee National Forests Soil Scientist to complete sampling at an intensive Dynamic Soil Properties (DSP) project tier in late May through early June 2024. Located in the Huron National Forest in the Northeastern portion of the Lower Peninsula, this project focuses on the benchmark soil series, Grayling.

In addition to the standard set of outcomes for DSP projects, the goals of this project are to a) fill data gaps that will bolster management interpretations for Grayling, b) provide data for the creation of a forest soil nutrient management strategy for jack pine plantations, and c) ​estimate the time-to-recovery for soil properties that are affected by plantation site preparation and burning. This ecosystem is critical habitat for the Kirtland’s Warbler – a recently delisted Federally endangered species.

Grayling soils are excessively drained sandy soils formed in glaciofluvial deposits on a variety of landforms located on outwash plain landscapes across Northern Michigan. The taxonomic classification of Grayling is Isotic, frigid Typic Udipsamments. These soils are included in the F094AB019MI – Sandy Drift ecological site. Three total ecological states within the Sandy Drift ecological site were selected: 1) Reference state – burned jack pine barrens and thickets, 2) Reference state – late successional jack pine-pin oak, and 3) Seminatural State – intensively managed jack pine planation.

Across nine field days, the staff successfully completed all soil describing, soil sampling and site data collection for nine sites including 27 soil pits and 18 runs of five Saturo units at the surface and in the subsurface Bw horizons. Vegetative plots will be completed in mid-July to accommodate the growing season. Bulk density and aggregate stability analyses will occur in-house at the Grand Rapids MLRA Soil Survey Office and in cooperation with Grand Valley State University. This intensive tier also includes the process of standard KSSL laboratory analyses for DSP and full characterization for three pedons.

All in all, the sites and soils remained consistent throughout all nine locations, with minor variations in coarse fragments, the presence or absence of thin duff layers, or very deep lamellae. However, there was an interesting observation at the last seminatural state of intensively managed jack pines- the surface exhibited slightly hydrophobic properties from the biological crust evident in one of the intentional openings that are distributed throughout the plantation. This crust appears to be a combination of lichen and moss and resulted in a notable decrease in the surface infiltration rate measured at that site.

The Forest Service appreciated the NRCS-Michigan staff who assisted during the field work to increase the overall efficiency to one complete site per day. The field team included: Trevor Hobbs (USFS SS), Matt Bromley (MLRA SSOL), Greg Schmidt (NE-EDQS), Devon Brodie (MLRA SS), Sydney Lance (MLRA SS), Nick Laughton (Pathways ES Intern), Sage Holmes (Pathways SS Intern), Stacey Smith (ARSS), Erin Segar (ARSS), Angel Domenech (ARSS), Lucy Gregersen (RSS), Kurt Dalman (DC), Devon Terwilliger (SC), Libby Benjamin (SC), and Justin Brown (SC).

At the start of June, Kelly Burke became the NRCS Area Conservationist for Area 1 in Michigan. Area 1 is comprised of the Upper Peninsula and includes six NRCS field offices administered by the area office in Marquette.

Burke comes to Michigan from Virginia where she was district conservationist in the Rustburg office serving Amherst, Appomattox, and Campbell counties. Burke began her career in Buffalo, Wyo. in 2003, mapping soils as a soil scientist. Later she worked as a soil conservation technician in Snohomish, Wash. She left Washington to serve as a soil conservationist in Montana and later Minnesota before moving to Virginia.

Burke was born into an Army family in San Diego. While growing up her family moved regularly between bases throughout the U.S. as well as a stay in Panama. She later attended San Diego State University and Cal Poly Technical School in San Luis Obispo and earned a degree in soil science.

In her free time, Burke’s hobbies include reading, science fiction, and gardening. Her time in Montana and Minnesota should help her acclimate to the Upper Peninsula, her office in Montana was only 13 miles from the border with Canada.

The last Area Conservationist for Area 1 was Michael LaPointe, since his retirement Areas 1 and 2 were overseen by William Elder. Elder will continue to serve as Area Conservationist for Area 2 which includes the northern lower peninsula.  

Welcome to Michigan Kelly!

Kyler Hanson - Soil Conservationist, Marquette 

Last Position: Marquette County Conservation District, field technician
Hometown: Ishpeming
Education: Bachelor’s degree in botany - Northern Michigan University
Family: girlfriend McKenna, we share an orange cat named Luna.
Hobbies & Interests: I enjoy hunting, fishing, gardening, powerlifting, and cooking.

Makhayla Mainville - Natural Resource Specialist, Stephenson

Last Position: CTAI Soil Conservationist, Delta Conservation District and NRCS, Gladstone
Hometown: Garden
Education: B.S. Conservation Biology - Lake Superior State University
Family: Husband, Ben Mainville
Hobbies & Interests: Birding, botany, fishing, and countless other outdoor pursuits

Nicholas Rainey – Soil Conservationist, Kingsford 

Last Position: Soil Conservationist, Duluth, Minn.
Hometown: Wilmot, Wisc.
Education: Bachelor of Science, Soil and Land Management,  University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
Family: Three brothers and three Sisters
Hobbies & Interests: Deer, duck and grouse hunting, open water and ice fishing, golf.

Kevin Weidmayer - Soil Conservation Technician, Jonesville

Last Position: Conservation Specialist, Hillsdale Conservation District
Hometown: Reading
Education: BS – Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University
Family: Wife Kathy, Three adult children – Marie, Ann, Joseph
Hobbies & Interests: Spending time with family, gardening, hobby farm, sports

July

12 - Forest to Michigan Faucet River Paddle, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Skip's Huron River Canoe Livery - Ann Arbor, for more information go to
michiganforestassociation-bloom.kindful.com

13 - Ryerson Creek Clean Up, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Smith-Ryerson Center - Muskegon, volunteers needed, lunch provided, for more information call 231/828-5097 or email lance.mccarty@macd.org

16 - Quarter Mile Good Farm & Orchard Pasture Walk, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., 6142 Willis Rd. - North Branch, for more information go to canr.msu.edu/events

18 - Grieser Farms Pasture Walk, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., 6607 Howard City Edmore Rd. - Six Lakes, for more information go to canr.msu.edu/events

18 - Forest Communities Workshop, 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Boardman River Nature Center - Traverse City, for more information go to natureiscalling.org/events 

19 - Southwest Michigan No-Till Field Day, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., 93599 County Road 652 - Marcellus, for more information go to canr.msu.edu/events

20-21 - Michigan Honey Festival, Shiawassee County Fair Grounds, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 2900 Hibbard Rd. - Corunna, for more information go to michiganhoneyfestival.com

23 - Veggie Vibes at SW Mi Research & Extension Center, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., 1791 Hillandale Rd. - Benton Harbor, for more information go to canr.msu.edu/events

30 - Growing Green, 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Little Hands Garden - Bronson, lunch provided, for more information and to RSVP email RSVP@branchcd.org or call 517/278-2725 ext. 5