[BoomRShine]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

Most of the state is poor for farming, and there's a lot of water and shoreline.

There's tons of trees. It's a bit different than most of the Midwest isn't it?

The "tons of trees" you are seeing are due to Michigan's diversity of farming. You see, Michigan has a lot more land in orchards (apples, peaches, cherries, etc.) than other Midwest states. In fact, much more than all of the other Midwest states combined.

Michigan 118,166 acres of orchards
Missouri 21,755
Ohio 13,144
Wisconsin 9,683
Illinois 8,168
Kansas 7,042
Indiana 5,354
Minnesota 4,148
Iowa 3,141
Nebraska 1,080
South Dakota 213
North Dakota 16

Michigan is also easily the top producer of Christmas trees anually in the Midwest. More trees!

Michigan 2,380,173 trees
Wisconsin 1,605,981
Minnesota 463,885
Ohio 372,957
Indiana 186,303
Illinois 144,008
Missouri 92,483
Iowa 57,254
Kansas 29,094
Nebraska 24,215
South Dakota 3,715
North Dakota 2,007

[allbusiness]

If you're looking for warm water on the state's west side, look for a steady but light west wind. It pushes the water up against the shore where the sun warms it in the shallows. Alternately, an east wind pushes the "top" water out, allowing the deeper cold water to rush in and replace it. Simply hydrodynamics. Ironically, those warm water days may have much higher waves, while the cold water days might have calm seas, due to the wind coming from "onshore".

[jeeg]

I had to laugh about the "to cold to swim" comment. I'm one of those (along with my kids) who swim in Lake Superior and enjoy it. Lake Michigan is usually quite tropical in comparison!!

We do make a few trips south to the garden peninsula at the beginning and end of summer to swim in Lake Michigan when Superior is just too chilly

[tjay]

i actually don't lump michigan as a 'midwest' state....i know its got enough farming, but to me its a 'northern' state. anything touching canada is 'northern'.....(imo)

[suydam]

Originally Posted by tjay

i actually don't lump michigan as a 'midwest' state....i know its got enough farming, but to me its a 'northern' state. anything touching canada is 'northern'.....(imo)

I'd agree with you.... but most would not.
Midwestern United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[dutchinnd]

It was really funny, but when I moved from MI to ND, I was referred to as being from "Out East." On either coast, all of the center of the country is referred to as the Midwest, but IMHO, there are immense differences between "Great Lakes" and "Great Plains." MI, OH, IN, IL, and WI have a much larger manufacturing presence mixed with the agriculture, and the size and scale of farming is much, much different. In ND production ag rules; a large farm is over 10,000 acres and no one ever was able to make a living on less than a full section. I realize I've been gone a while from MI, but in my grandparent's time, a full section was a sizeable farm and many families lived on 80 acres (see Ron Jager's book Eighty Acres: Elegy for a Family Farm).

[magellan]

Originally Posted by dutchinnd

It was really funny, but when I moved from MI to ND, I was referred to as being from "Out East." On either coast, all of the center of the country is referred to as the Midwest, but IMHO, there are immense differences between "Great Lakes" and "Great Plains." MI, OH, IN, IL, and WI have a much larger manufacturing presence mixed with the agriculture, and the size and scale of farming is much, much different. In ND production ag rules; a large farm is over 10,000 acres and no one ever was able to make a living on less than a full section. I realize I've been gone a while from MI, but in my grandparent's time, a full section was a sizeable farm and many families lived on 80 acres (see Ron Jager's book Eighty Acres: Elegy for a Family Farm).

That's definitely true. Try putting together a large land deal in Michigan, and you're working with 5 - 10 (or more) different farmers and landowners. In many other states, you can easily put together 1000 acres and develop it, dealing with one landowner. Especially in the desert Southwest, where 5000 acre developments are pretty common over the last few decades.

[MI-IRISH]

Originally Posted by MimzyMusic

Most of the state is poor for farming, and there's a lot of water and shoreline.

There's tons of trees. It's a bit different than most of the Midwest isn't it?

i think he's saying it's not flat....like this gal i use to date

[warchildbosnia]

Not to mention that the politics in Michigan are different. Michigan has a lot of industry to. It really would fit better next to Maine!

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by warchildbosnia

Not to mention that the politics in Michigan are different. Michigan has a lot of industry to. It really would fit better next to Maine!

?What? I've lived in both states for long periods, I don't see a connection at all.