FRANKENMUTH, Mich. (AP) – The Michigan Wheat Program is chipping in $700,000 over the next five years to help Michigan State University buy more land for research. The funding was announced this week during the wheat program’s field day in Frankenmuth. The state’s wheat growers established the program five years ago, largely to support research into boosting the crop’s quality and yield. It has spent more than $1.5 million on studies of breeding, genetics, disease, crop rotation and weed control. Michigan State will purchase 150 acres next to a bean and sugar beet research farm in Frankenmuth. Officials say that will allow rotation trials with other crops. The university also has assembled a team of wheat specialists. Nearly 8,000 farmers who grow wheat in 50 of Michigan’s 83 counties fund the program.
