“Poverty and hunger in rural America is very much out of sight, out of mind,” said Howard Buffett, who in 1999 established a foundation to help the world’s needy. “It doesn’t jump out at you. It’s not like the brazen images of starving children in Ethiopia … but that doesn’t mean it isn’t just as devastating to people who are hungry.”

Anti-hunger groups are numerous. Buffett acknowledged in a phone interview that even his idea of challenging farmers to donate a share of their earnings isn’t original. But he hopes the support of another partner — agribusiness conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland Co. — will help “Invest an Acre” establish a nationwide reach that will set it apart.

ADM will send postcards to 80,000 commodity producers who sell their crops through the company’s network of grain elevators asking them to support the program, said Jen Hogan, manager of grain origination. They’ll be able to donate when dropping off truckloads of grain or make pledges when signing contracts with the company.

There are no financial incentives for participating and no obligation to do so, but Hogan said she expects many ADM customers will jump at the chance.

“Our farmers are very charitable to begin with. They’re giving donations to schools, churches,” she said. “We think they’ll see the value in being able to help feed their neighbors who have run into some hard times.”

Buffett’s foundation has focused largely on areas of the world that many aid groups avoid because of war, geographic isolation or other challenges. About 85 percent of its funding goes to other countries. Buffett said it has devoted more attention to domestic hunger in recent years as the economic downturn has driven many Americans into unemployment and want. Feeding America says the number of people served by its network of food banks rose from 25 million in 2006 to 37 million in 2010.

“It should be unacceptable that so many are suffering in such a wealthy country,” Buffett said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 14.7 percent of rural households consistently ran short of food in 2010. The rate was worse in urban areas — 17 percent.

Yet experts say hunger in the countryside presents unique challenges, particularly because of long distances and a lack of transportation options.

“If you have to drive two hours to get to a grocery store or a food bank, of course you are going to be underserved,” said Corinne Alexander, an agricultural economist at Purdue University.

The image of self-sufficient rural residents growing their own food is increasingly outdated, Alexander said.

“Farms have become so much more specialized,” she said. “You might be a grain farmer. You might be a livestock farmer. And in rural areas, there are a lot of people who are just not farmers.”

Alexander said a farm’s size and productivity likely will determine the operator’s willingness to support the “Invest an Acre” program.

ADM’s recruitment efforts will target producers who sell to about 250 of the company’s elevators, mostly in the Deep South, Midwest and Great Plains, Hogan said.

Buffett’s foundation will pay the program’s administrative and marketing costs. Feeding America, an umbrella group representing 90 percent of the nation’s food banks, will distribute the donations to local communities, CEO Vicki Escarra said. Food banks are similar to wholesalers, providing food to pantries run by houses of faith and charities.

Buffett, 57, who grows corn, soybeans and wheat on 1,300 acres near Decatur, Ill., said he couldn’t predict how many farmers would join the program but is betting on its success — following the example of his father, who encouraged his children to be innovative and take risks.

“He’s always said you’re never going to bat 1,000 if you try something difficult, but it’s better to strike out a few times than … always playing it safe,” Buffett said. “I can’t think of any better group in this country than farmers that would want to help hungry people. That’s what we do — we grow food.”

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Associated Press writer Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this story.

Offshore wind projects have been proposed elsewhere in the region, including Michigan and New York, stirring fierce debate.

Critics say they would ruin spectacular vistas, lower shoreline property values and harm birds and fish. New York Power Authority trustees last September abandoned a plan for private companies to place up to 200 turbines, each about 450 feet high, in Lakes Erie and Ontario. The Canadian province of Ontario in February 2011 ordered a moratorium on wind energy development in its Great Lakes waters to allow more study of environmental issues.

Supporters describe the lakes’ winds as a vast, untapped source of clean energy and economic growth.

“This agreement among federal agencies and Great Lakes states is a smart, practical way to encourage the development of homegrown energy that will create jobs, power homes and reduce pollution in American communities,” said Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Administration officials said the region’s offshore winds could generate more than 700 gigawatts — one-fifth of all potential wind energy nationwide. Each gigawatt of offshore wind could power 300,000 homes while reducing demand for electricity from coal, which emits greenhouse gases and other pollutants, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.

Public resistance and logistical problems would pose formidable obstacles to approaching those levels. Yet harnessing only a small portion of the Great Lakes’ offshore wind could generate thousands of jobs, officials said.

Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania signed the agreement. The other three states with Great Lakes coastlines — Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin — declined invitations but could join the partnership later, an administration official said.

The agreement is modeled after another between the federal government and Eastern states designed to support wind energy production in the Atlantic and encourage investment in new offshore wind technology.

“This agreement will enable states to work together to ensure that any proposed offshore wind projects are reviewed in a consistent manner, and that the various state and federal agencies involved collaborate and coordinate their reviews,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said developing offshore wind energy would “promote economic development and create jobs, while reducing our dependence on foreign energy sources.”

Among 10 federal agencies taking part are the Pentagon, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, NOAA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Developers would need state and federal approval to establish offshore wind farms. State governments own the Great Lakes bottomlands within U.S. territory, while a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be required to erect the turbines and all 10 federal agencies would review the plans.

If the standoff isn’t resolved, the Badger could be grounded — a disheartening prospect in its home port of Ludington, which takes pride in its maritime history as do many Great Lakes coastal towns. The ship is also important to the economy, employing about 200 during sailing season.

“It’s rooted deep in this community,” said Fay, 64, whose father, like those of his closest boyhood pals, was a ferry crewman. “The Badger is the last of its kind. I just hate the idea of losing it.”

Up and down the shorelines, relics of history draw tourists by evoking nostalgia for a simpler time. The clip-clop of horses pulling carriages is a familiar sound on car-free Mackinac Island. In Saugatuck, a hand-drawn chain ferry dating from shortly after Michigan gained statehood in 1837 still traverses the Kalamazoo River. The village of Leland has “Fishtown,” a tiny remnant of a commercial fishing village featuring weather-beaten shacks, smokehouses and charter boats.

The Badger, a stout vessel with a wide smokestack and an open-air bow popular with sunbathers, is all that remains of a ferry fleet that hauled railcars across the lake for more than a century. Most of the boats met a sad ending in scrapyards by the late 1980s. The Badger survived when an entrepreneur refurbished it for leisure travel.

The 410-foot ship now has dining areas and a movie lounge as well as many original features, including a mechanism that allows the captain to transmit orders to engineers below decks by moving brass levers on a dial. Rates vary, but a one-way trip for a family of four and their vehicle comes to about $200.

Many townspeople are relatives or friends of former crew members. Others have fond memories of riding the ferries with parents or grandparents.

“The Badger has always been part of their lives and their experience of being here in Ludington,” Mayor John Henderson said.

But it’s not always easy to keep one foot in the past while meeting modern standards.

Regulators four years ago gave Lake Michigan Carferry, which runs the Badger, until this December to change its ash disposal method or fuel type. The company says it’s working on a switch to natural gas but needs more time to retrofit the craft, which launched in 1953. Senior chief engineer Charles Cart says it could take up to five years.

Lake Michigan Carferry insists there’s little if any harm from the coal ash, which is mixed with water to form slurry and piped overboard. It says an EPA-certified lab found the material is hundreds of times below hazardous levels.

Tinka Hyde, water division chief with EPA’s Chicago regional office, said the agency has questions about the tests and will review the Badger’s application for an extension.

“If they want to continue to operate, they will need to be in compliance with the Clean Water Act,” Hyde said.

Environmentalists say the contaminants add up over time. And supporters of a rival company say the Badger shouldn’t expect special treatment. “They’re putting almost 8,000 pounds of ash a day into Lake Michigan,” said Steve Warmington, mayor of Muskegon, a city 60 miles south where a diesel-powered ferryboat called the Lake Express is based. “There’s no way in the world you can convince me that’s good for the lake.”

Badger backers say the Muskegon mayor wants to scuttle a competitor, which he denies.

In Ludington, businesses say grounding the Badger would be devastating. It hauls about 300,000 passengers and 30,000 vehicles a year, and many riders stay around long enough to shop, dine or stay overnight. A study by West Shore Community College near Ludington said the ferry pumps $35 million a year into the economy.

Motel owner David Bourgette figures he’d lose 25 percent of his customers without the Badger.

“I care about our lake. But the carferry isn’t doing that much damage,” he said. “If there was one dinosaur left, would we kill it off just because it wasn’t mixing in just right?”

A large, hand-painted Badger mural decorates the outside wall of Jerry and Sally Cole’s downtown antique shop, where ferry memorabilia are on display in glass cases — placemats, playing cards, matchbooks.

“There are a slew of people who collect these things,” Sally Cole said. “It shows how much the Badger means to the area.”