AgBioResearch

This story is part of a series highlighting the impact of MSU AgBioResearch’s work with Michigan agriculture and natural resources told through our stakeholders' perspectives. Through partnerships with the State of Michigan and industries, MSU AgBioResearch is finding solutions to some of the most timely problems facing our state. To view the entire series, visit agbioresearch.msu.edu.

In addition to the written story, listen to the below podcast with MSU AgBioResearch Director George Smith and Ben Smith, executive director of the Michigan State Horticultural Society, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Millions of visitors flock to Lake Michigan each year for the abundance of recreational opportunities. While the beauty of West Michigan facilitates a bourgeoning tourism industry, a sect of the region’s residents appreciate Lake Michigan for a different reason.

Known as the “Fruit Belt,” Michigan’s west coast is home to one of the state’s most prolific agricultural sectors. Lake Michigan acts as a temperature regulator, providing a climate well-suited to growing fruit when coupled with fertile, sandy soils — from apples, blueberries, grapes and peaches to the country’s largest tart cherry-growing region near Traverse City.

According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), total economic activity of the Michigan fruit industry equates to more than $750 million annually. Specialty crop production, which includes fruit, supports more than 41,000 jobs.

Ben Smith, a southwest Michigan grape grower and executive director of the Michigan State Horticultural Society (MSHS), said there is ample opportunity for industry growth. But challenges pertaining to evolving insect pest pressures, debilitating crop diseases, labor shortages and profitability introduce significant hurdles.

“There’s so much room for growth,” Smith said. “I live in southwest Michigan, and it’s great ground to grow fruit. You can’t grow fruit just anywhere throughout the state. It’s mostly along the west coast for climate reasons, and we have the potential to grow as an industry with necessary investment. Figuring out answers to those tough questions facing the fruit industry can make farmers more profitable, the fruit industry more successful and the state more successful. The fruit industry supports a lot of jobs and healthy eating for a lot of people.”

The “necessary investment” Smith refers to is funding for research and outreach services provided by Michigan State University AgBioResearch and MSU Extension. Finding answers to the short- and long-term questions confronting Michigan agriculture has been a core part of the mission of both organizations for more than a century. Working alongside the fruit industry has spanned the entirety of that time, and the MSHS partnership remains a crucial component.

The MSHS was founded in 1870 on the MSU campus as a mechanism to provide research and education that benefits fruit growers. The organization’s board of directors, which is composed entirely of growers, manages a trust fund supported by the industry and directs investments in research and education.

“We fund MSU research every year that directly addresses industry needs,” Smith said. “MSU listens very well to industry. They’re not out there doing whatever research they think is important or something they can write a good grant for. They start by coming to us and asking what we need.

“When the industry is funding research or using results from MSU, it really needs to start with the applicability of it. We have to be able to implement it on a farm. The great thing the Michigan State Horticultural Society sees with MSU is that they can bring results to a field day or conference, and then a grower can choose to take action. That’s a critical expectation we have and something MSU does really well.”

Field days and conferences give large groups of farmers the chance to hear the latest research findings from MSU in person. One such conference stands out among the rest, and it’s something Smith said is invaluable to growers.

The Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO is the marquee event for Michigan fruit and vegetable growers each year, one of the largest conferences of its kind in North America. Held in Grand Rapids every December, the EXPO is a joint effort between the MSHS and the Michigan Vegetable Council.

Smith said recent research results delivered at the EXPO have tackled some of the most pressing fruit questions.

“In the last few years, we’ve seen a lot of great research on bitter pit in apples,” he said. “That’s probably the most difficult thing to control in our most valuable apples, Honeycrisp. It affects growers’ bottom lines when they’re not able to control it. There’s been a lot of good research to understand what’s causing bitter pit and helping growers control it to grow a better apple that’s more marketable.

“For blueberries, we’ve been looking at new varieties to plant because many growers have varieties in the ground that are quite old. It’s very expensive to replant, so we need additional information, and we’ve funded a lot of research in recent years to explore those new varieties. There are lots of good ones out there, especially coming out of MSU. We’re looking at which ones are the best for consumer preference and growability.”

Much of the research on behalf of the fruit industry is conducted through Project GREEEN, a state-funded program that brings together MSU, the Michigan Plant Coalition and MDARD, now in its 27^th year. The program has delivered major economic benefits to the state since its inception. An economic analysis conducted at MSU concluded that in Project GREEEN’s first 25 years, every $1 invested generated $15 of statewide economic activity — totaling more than $2 billion.

Smith said the rapid response to needs is what makes Project GREEEN unique and particularly helpful.

“Project GREEEN is fantastic because when researchers are putting together a project proposal, they have to address which industry priorities they’re going to be working on,” he said. “It’s a core part of the application process, and that’s a great way to stay connected to the industry. And while a federal grants program may be a four- or five-year cycle, Project GREEEN is able to be nimble and generate results quickly.”

That flexibility and urgency has been on display with a widespread problem for soft-fleshed fruits, spotted wing drosophila (SWD). The invasive insect arrived in Michigan in 2010 and devastated berries and cherries by infesting ripe fruit, thus making it unmarketable. Using Project GREEEN funding, MSU researchers developed insecticide recommendations and, more recently, a potential biological control.

“Researchers at MSU really jumped on the SWD issue because it’s something that growers were hit with out of the blue,” Smith said. “MSU figured out which treatments would work, when to spray, how to trim plants and do different things culturally to figure out how manage this new pest. The MSHS also funded a project on a parasitoid wasp, which has been reared and released since then. It won’t control SWD entirely, but it brings the population down and will hopefully help long term.”

Another Project GREEEN-funded initiative Smith pointed to is Enviroweather, a network of weather-monitoring sites around the state that provide growers with vital information that can inform optimal planting and spray timing, as well as other production strategies.

While Project GREEEN efforts are focused on the short term, the Agricultural Resiliency Program was created in 2024 to combat long-term problems related to extreme weather and water. Like Project GREEEN, the Agricultural Resiliency Program is a partnership among MSU, the Michigan Plant Coalition and MDARD. It began after the plant agriculture community identified a series of future challenges current funding is unable to solve.

The program enabled the hiring of six new faculty members and two MSU Extension educators to enhance expertise in strategic areas around water and extreme weather. Research was also funded in 2024 and 2025 to develop innovative tools such as models to inform farming practices, decision-support systems, an artificial intelligence-based forecasting platform and insect management recommendations in the face of increasing weather variability.

“A farmer needs to know how they can adjust to challenges over the next five or 10 years,” Smith said. “Our current funding wasn’t able to answer some of those really big questions. We see these problems coming, so we need funding for that type of research. It’s critical to have the ability to hire the right talent and begin to answer those questions, which is why this program is so important.”

State of Michigan funding is paramount to agricultural research, a message Smith said has been heard by legislators through tremendous support over the years. But the fruit industry’s challenges remain.

“It starts with a simple message of, ‘We need your help,’” Smith said. “We can’t do it on our own. We participate as best we can, and all of the commodities have programs to help fund different research needs throughout the industry, but it’s not enough. We’re not looking for handouts. We’re putting hundreds of thousands of industry dollars into research.

“The state has been a great funder of MSU research and Extension, but if we didn’t have that, it looks like a less-healthy fruit industry with less-profitable farmers. Given the margins farmers operate with, that means bankrupt farms. The unbiased research from MSU gives us the recommendations we need.”

Two Michigan growers, Andy Riley and Mark Evans, have experienced the impact of MSU research firsthand. Riley is a fifth-generation farmer and operator of Riley Orchards Inc., alongside his brother, Steve. The farm produces apples, tart cherries, sweet cherries and asparagus. Evans is the MSHS president and a fifth-generation farmer at Evans Bros. Fruit Co., growing apples, cherries and blueberries.

Below is a Q&A with Riley and Evans showcasing their experiences with MSU.

How does MSU research currently support your goals?

Riley: MSU research has most recently helped our farm with Maximum Residue Limits data (that defines the maximum amount of pesticide residue acceptable on crops). As we find ourselves in a global market, it’s great having the expertise there to be able to gather the information needed so that our products can meet the strict guides of the export markets we are trying to capture, while maintaining efficacy against the pests that plaque farmers. I want to give a special shoutout to Dr. Emily Lavely (MSU Extension tree fruit educator) and Jackie Perkins (academic specialist and tree fruit integrator in the Department of Entomology) for their professionalism on these multiyear projects.

Evans: In looking at research funding through Project GREEEN recently, some of those projects are so important for our farm. Dr. George Sundin’s work in sweet cherries and apples is a great example. We’re having a really hard time with brown rot in sweet cherries. We’ve noticed resistance to chemicals building, so we’re getting more brown rot than ever. His research can hopefully help chemical companies develop better alternatives. His work with fire blight in apples is really important as well. Dr. Younsuk Dong and his research on irrigation has a lot of potential. One of the more important ones for me is Dr. Randy Beaudry with Honeycrisp apples and lenticel breakdown (a storage and packing problem that causes lesions to develop). Dr. Julianna Wilson is working on a big issue with woolly apple aphids, and she’s been a big help.

What outcomes or benefits do you expect from MSU research?

Riley: Because we work with an accredited university, we expect and believe that we are receiving the most up-to-date and competitive research of anyone in the U.S.

Evans: I would expect the research to be done that really matters to the industry. If we can’t implement it, it’s wasted effort. It’s not just about finding a solution. We need to see if it’s economically viable for growers, and that’s ultimately the measure of whether it’s successful or not.

Can you share an example of when MSU research has positively affected the industry or helped it overcome a looming challenge?

Riley: MSU has helped us with invasive species like spotted wing drosophila. They manage a statewide trapline and provide data and recommendations on how we can reduce our spray costs while targeting the pests effectively. Also, the Enviroweather tools help us make decisions on when to spray and irrigate to maximize profitability.

Evans: I see the types of research they’re doing, and it’s all stuff that needs to be taken care of. Addressing industry needs is really the main point we need to continue to emphasize.

How can MSU research help to position the industry to thrive moving forward?

Riley: MSU can continue to help move the industry forward by funding and filling open positions important to growers in both AgBioResearch and Extension. Eliminating positions or not being able to fill them would bring harm to our growing needs.

Evans: Of course, we need to continue to see the type of research that’s being done currently. We’ve had conversations quite often among growers, and we believe, for some existing problems, there is a need to have researchers brought in to tackle these issues. There are researchers out there who have experience directly in the field, and those people are really valuable. Hiring people with a lot of experience to help us right away is the most important thing. We don’t have a lot of time to waste with some of the issues we’re dealing with.

What would you say to legislators to advocate on behalf of continued research funding? What would it mean to not have this funding support moving forward?

Riley: If legislatures decided to cut funding, they would be saying that our food supply chain is not of importance. We believe this to be a national security issue. Having the highest-quality food supply chain in the world positions us to provide our people with the most basic human need: food and nutrition. Research and Extension provides us with relative data that helps us to be just that, the most abundant and safest food supply chain in the world.  

Evans: We’ve had a lot of support over the years from legislators, but we don’t necessarily feel like our voices have been heard lately. Agriculture is such an important part of the state’s economy. The return on the investment for research from an economic standpoint is really impressive, especially for a program like Project GREEEN. We need that continued support to benefit our industries and the entire state.

Michigan State University AgBioResearch scientists discover dynamic solutions for food systems and the environment. More than 300 MSU faculty conduct leading-edge research on a variety of topics, from health and agriculture to natural resources. Originally formed in 1888 as the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, MSU AgBioResearch oversees numerous on-campus research facilities, as well as 15 outlying centers throughout Michigan. To learn more, visit agbioresearch.msu.edu.