Think it’s hard to do spring cleaning when you’re busy and the family is underfoot? Just imagine keeping a whole state clear and unpolluted including 52,000 farms, which encompass 10.4 million acres. Add to that mix 10 million people underfoot!  It’s a giant spring clean up, and it happens not just in spring but at all times of the year. 

Michigan is made up of two peninsulas of land separated by the Straits of Mackinac. It borders four out of the five Great Lakes including Superior, Erie, Huron and Michigan. Blessed by over 15,800 inland lakes, it has extremely diverse soils ranging from compact clays to loose sands.

The Environmental Stewardship Division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture helps protect this unique environment and prevent pollution. The Environmental Stewardship people focus on farm operations while protecting agricultural land, natural land and water resources and public health.

Spills, clutter, sinks and drains. These are among the most common cleaning problems in your home. Here’s how the Michigan Department of Agriculture deals with similar problems throughout the state.

Got kids? Got spills.  The Michigan Department of Agriculture works with huge spills.

Each year the Agricultural Spill Response program of MDA helps mitigate about 100-150 spills—spillage of tens of millions of pounds of material valued at millions of dollars. Pesticides, fertilizer and manure sometimes spill—especially in accidents when being transported from one place to another.  

“We work at prevention and quick response,” says Gary Boersen, MDA Environmental Engineer. When the spill occurs often a knowledgeable and trained person such as a farmer, chemical supplier or user is the first responder who knows the initial steps to take. Then that first responder will contact the Agricultural Spill Response to report the spill and assess whether further expertise is needed. For example, if a truck carrying manure spills on land, the manure is simply shoveled completely up and put on the land where it was supposed to be put. However, if manure falls near a body of water, the Agricultural Spill Response Program brings in the Department of Environmental Quality to assure that no water is contaminated.

Want a clean house and a good place for people and plants to thrive in your home?

So does the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program of MDA. CREP was created to enhance conservation practices of agricultural land to improve the quality of the water and increase wildlife habitat.  CREP has restored wetlands and shallow water areas for animals.  CREP creates cover plantings and windbreaks to keep soil from being eroding.

Your house cleaning might well involve cleaning your sinks and drains.

Michigan’s Department of Agriculture oversees drainage and flood control for over 1,100 open and enclosed intercounty drains. This Intercounty Drain Program seeks to keep the water quality in drains up to Environmental Protection Agency standards. They want drains intended to keep water at safe levels to be an environmental asset to communities.

As you wander through the “stuff” in your home, perhaps you try to figure out how what’s underfoot and where you’re going to put things. More closets? Bookshelves?  An entertainment center?

Earth—soil—covers Michigan. The Michigan Department of Agriculture is a partner in the National Cooperative Soil Survey Program, which researches soil and puts that data on maps and on aerial photographs. Knowing what kinds of soil are where helps people decide what they are going to do. Forest resource managers can plant the right kind of trees for the right soils. Farmers can find out if the soil and water is the best for certain crops. Want to grow, for example, cranberries? Soil types needed are generally acid organic or poorly drained sandy soils with shallow organic surfaces.

Want to declutter your house and have restful spots? Imagine doing that for a whole state.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture has a Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program. This program works to preserve agricultural and open space for today and tomorrow’s citizens. Landowners agree to restrict use and development of land; in exchange they receive from the State of Michigan tax credits and other economic incentives. That’s a little like offering your kids an allowance to keep their rooms free of clutter.

Your house is a haven and necessary for your survival and protection. When you do cleanup and maintenance you’re keeping it protected for you and others who will live there in future years.  In the same way, MDA's Environmental Stewardship Program protects land, water and health for today and for future generations.