MSU Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center

06/27/2026

This is a popular event we have the opportunity to host this year in SW Michigan, serving the greater region from Ohio to Wisconsin. Super practical!

Join us for the 2026 Midwest Mechanical W**d Control Field Day at Michigan State University Extension's Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center! 🚜

📆 Wednesday, September 16
📍 Benton Harbor, MI

▶️ Discover the latest in mechanical w**d control for vegetables, flowers, row crops, and fruit
▶️ Hear from national experts on w**ding tools and techniques, cover crops, and enhancing soil health
▶️ See field demos of cultivators for all scales
▶️ Meet farmers from across the Midwest

✅ Learn more and register here: https://www.thelandconnection.org/event/2026-mmwcfd/

06/16/2026

This cone seeder drops seed in a short distance and cleans its own hopper for the next seed. Great for trialing different varieties in randomized fashion.

06/13/2026

Ever had a bad hair day? Grapes have!

This machine is called a grape comber, invented by MSU to “comb” grape foliage down, maximizing sunlight exposure to the fruit, leading to higher quality wine and less disease pressure.

06/12/2026

Laid drip tape for a baresoil plot with a new machine for us, and then planted and sprayed herbicide before all this rainy weather! Lucky!

05/29/2026

MSU Extension Vegetable Specialist, Ben Phillips, made an appearance slinging free tomato plants at the A4Asthma event in Benton Harbor this evening.

05/26/2026

Loading our research plants at the one and only Barbott Farms & Greenhouses. Thanks team! "Barbott's, Barbott's, Barbott's. Barbott's, Targuts Starguts." IYKYK.

05/22/2026

Calibrating the spreader and getting calibrated by a new tool, the Agricision OnTrak light bar and phone app for GPS guidance. Making parallel lines more than 8 ft apart is tough because you start losing reference points on the tractor that overlap your previous wheel tracks. We still have to steer, but the little magnetic hood ornament and our phone screen guides us to keep parallel. I made six 100 ft lines yesterday to mark plot boundaries. Super simple and easily transferable between tractors.

05/12/2026

05/11/2026

Seeding carrots, beets, and lettuce with different equipment and settings to learn what works best for research opportunities that come our way.

12/23/2025

🚨This time we are going to South West Michigan🤗Berrien County Conservation District Berrien County Farm Bureau Berrien County Michigan - Government are you ready for an amazing Hands-On Mushroom Workshop Experience⁉️This one's for you 🫵 Learn to Grow Mushrooms 4 different ways ✅ Free Gourmet Mushroom Food ✅ Free Mushroom Coffee on Tap ✅ Free 5lb Ready-To-Fruit Mushroom Grow Kit🤯 Oh did I mention it's hands-on and you will be inoculating your very own All-In-One Grow Kit⁉️ Tickets are only $35 😲 And will sell out fast☝️Don't snooze you don't wanna miss this 🤗 Ticket Link below ⬇

https://www.berriencd.org/events/hands-on-mushroom-workshop