UPDATE: Preserve Michigan's Right to Farm Act
Meeting Thursday, Mar. 20 - Sign Petition, Call, Attend
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Livestock on land zoned
for residential use would
no longer be protected!
Preserve the Michigan
Right to Farm Act and
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Michigan Commission of Ag. and Rural Dev.
Thursday March 20, starting at 9 a.m.
GreenStone Farm Credit Services
Room 111-112
3515 West Road
East Lansing, MI 48823 [directions]
Michigan has the best Right to Farm Act (RTFA) in the country; under the RTFA, all Michigan citizens have the right to farm as long as they are a commercial operation (with no minimum sales requirement to be considered commercial under the law) and the farm is following applicable generally accepted agricultural and management practices (GAAMPs) issued by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD).
UPDATE: The protection that Michigan's RTFA provides to farms and residential areas is now in jeopardy, however, due to proposed revisions to the GAAMPs from MDARD. The Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development will be voting on the proposed revisions at Thursday's meeting.
MDARD has issued GAAMPs for "Site Selection" to help determine the suitability of sites for livestock production facilities. Until now this site selection criteria applied only to larger agricultural operations; under the proposed revision, the Site Selection GAAMP would apply to any farm with livestock.
The latest proposed revision to the Site Selection GAAMPs states, "Category 4 sites are locations that are primarily residential and do not allow agricultural uses by right (whether use is by right is determined by local zoning ordinances) and are not acceptable under the siting GAAMPs for livestock facilities and livestock production facilities, regardless of the number of animal units." In other words, those with livestock on land in residential areas would no longer be protected by RTFA.
This would not only affect farms in urban and suburban areas, but many rural areas in the state are zoned residential and would be affected as well.
This move by MDARD is unjustifiable. In the words of attorney Michelle Halley, who successfully represented FTCLDF members Randy and Libby Buchler in a right-to-farm case one year ago,
"The agency can't rewrite the law. They have only the authority to carry it out as the legislature intended. If they're going beyond that, they're violating the separation of powers. Period."
Speak up at the meeting on Thursday, March 20, starting at 9 a.m.
Can't attend the meeting? See what else you can do below!
Please share this alert with friends and family.
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What You Can Do
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is meddling with the Right to Farm Act! Please speak up at the meeting and/or via email and phone calls.
1. Voice your support for the Michigan Right to Farm Act at the meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 20, 2014, beginning at 9 a.m. in GreenStone Farm Credit Services, Room 111-112, 3515 West Road, East Lansing, MI 48823.
2. Use the online petition to email comments to the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development before 9 a.m. March 20th.
3. Follow up with phone calls and emails to each member of the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development; see contact information below.
The most important story to tell is yours. Let MDARD and the Commissioners know why it is important to you that all citizens in Michigan have a right to participate in the production of their own food, wherever they live.
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Talking Points
- According to the law, changes to the GAAMPs should be based on scientific evidence; no evidence has been provided that supports the current changes to the Site Selection GAAMPs.
- According to the law, changes to the GAAMPs should be for purposes of improved public health or the environment; no evidence has been provided that small farms in residentially zoned areas are a threat to public health or the environment.
- The proposed changes create language in the GAAMPs that contradicts the language of the law (that is, the GAAMPs allow zoning to regulate Livestock Facilities while the Law prohibits zoning from regulating them). While the Agriculture Commission has the authority to change the language of the GAAMPs, they do NOT have the authority to change the meaning of the law, and that is what this change attempts to do.
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Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development
Email and Call Commissioners
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Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit [EIN 20-8605130], defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and artisan food producers while protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods. Learn more About Us or read the FTCLDF 2012 Summary.
Membership benefits include the possibility of representation in court; the Fund typically pays for all court costs. The Fund is not an insurance company and cannot guarantee representation on all legal matters. Your membership fees and donations help to keep local food sources available and preserve family farms facing unjust enforcement actions.
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Please forward this alert to others who are concerned about protecting locally-sourced nutrient-dense foods and preserving sustainable small family farms and artisan food producers as well as defending the rights to sell and to access the foods of one's choice from the source of one's choice.
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