Michigan Right to Farm Law, what does it mean?

[JackieandChicks]

Jackieandchicks,
I'm sorry, I've worked 12 hour days Friday Saturday Sunday and 13 scheduled tomorrow. You live only 15 min or so away from me if you would like to take it. I'm happy to share, unfortunately I just don't have time or knowledge of how to transfer it. Please let me know ASAP if u want to get it. I'll be up till 10 or so tonight, and up at 5am, out the door by 6am...
Thanks,
RTF

I don't know that much myself or how you recorded it (I thought you said your SO did). How did you record it? I can check with my technogeeks at work to see how to get this on the internet. I have to work tomorrow too. Where do you live?

 

[RTFchickens]

I'll PM you

 

[melodymom4]

We (my friend and I) have gathered surrounding city ordinances, drafted a favorable letter for backyard chicken keeping, and plan to submit it to city council members. Apparently they have to schedule a public hearing, publish said meeting in the paper, have a discussion, talk to involved city departments, then take a vote. We are also considering writing a petition and collecting signatures. We'd like to see the city act favorably towards our request, of course! We are in michigan and I know we have TRFA, but it seems so shady. I just don't want to fear losing them!

 

[WashtenawFarmer]

Part of my fear about this GAAMP passing is that it took my Township ten months to pass a simple burn ordinance... Months of hearings, hundreds of hours of time by Township citizens and officials. I know: I was on the committee that created the new draft ordinance. Imagine how long it will take to pass something that delimits and regulates agricultural rights in each of the 1,240 townships, 276 cities and 257 villages in the state of Michigan...

The amount of learning Townships will have to about the public health and environmental issues at stake is enormous. The barriers to the agricultural land marketplace that will result from having some 1600 different sets of land use laws for agriculture are enormous. Farmland landbuyers will largely avoid buying any kind of "transitional ag" land knowing they have to grapple with local ordinances and zoning that could change at any time, making their investments in infrastructure, land and animals just a tax write-off--and this is on agriculturally zoned land.

 

[Mustaq Varish]

Well, they voted to accept the site selection GAAMP a few hours ago effectively depriving thousands of current backyard farmers of their right to protection under RTFA. Even where those practitioners had done everything required in terms of establishing an LLC or other company to conduct "commerce" by selling or intending to sell their products. Only one commissioner voted to actually uphold her oath to protect and foster all forms of farming and agriculture in the state. The others deluded themselves into thinking the same thing while voting against it. Who benefits? C.A.F.O.s for one and the AG Commission itself for another. Another change now allows CAFOs to self-regulate thereby giving the AG department more free time to do what?...help urban municipalities (who admit to not having the background or knowledge to do it right) develop their own set of guidelines for urban and suburban farming? No, they'll instead be left to formulate their own policies if there is sufficient community pressure from outraged residents who are fed-up with contaminated spinach in salad bars, e-coli infected beef and pigs dying everywhere from another rampant Asian infectious organism. For now, the short-term response will be to issue citations against the backyard farmers where they've been itching to do so for a long time. The vagueness and ambiguity in the GAAMPS is staggeringly overwhelming. There are so many missing definitions and contradictions this has become a lawyers wet-dream. The courts will be full for years. It was funny to hear them say that "none of this is permanent" and if they get enough "phone calls" one way or the other in the next few months, they could draft and accept changes that ameliorate the "damages" from their current decision. I guess the 1000 or so responses they got asking them NOT TO ADOPT the proposed GAAMPS don't carry as much weight as the 23 responses they got in favor of them. Who will be hurt? Well, look at all those mini chicken coops for sale at Tractor Supply Company...they may as well give those back to the supplier. Also all the magazines that cater to backyard farmers will be losing their Michigan subscribers in short order. Then there is the health of participants. Forced to eat "factory food" and deprived of their animals this is a true hardship physically and emotionally for all of us. In the end, this will get ugly. People will now continue to do what they've been doing all along in secret. They've pushed us into our basements and back alleys as we are all now outlaws. I'm sure Debbie Stabenow will enjoy learning the board has just made thousands of urban farmers criminals this afternoon. I have no idea what Rick Snyder will think but they're both going to find out shortly. Has anyone taken this to the U.S. Supreme Court yet? Can any governmental body prevent you from deriving sustenance from your own land? They did a fine job of "dumping" this responsibility when the proper and responsible thing to do was orchestrate a smooth hand-off to organizations primed and vetted to pick up the slack properly. Now we suffer. This is the Michigan I've grown to be accustomed to over the last 40 years. Shame on the AG Commission.

 

[RaZ]

Director Clover Adams was quite pleased with the decision.

 

[wingless]

There are so many things that astonish about this whole situation.

The one that I can't stop thinking about is how for the past 30 years we have allowed our agricultural agency to use its resources (our taxes) to build up intensive farming operations in our state, at the clear expense of rural neighbors and the environment - and ultimately all of us who can no longer bear to eat the food produced from these kinds of intensive farm operations.

And since that apparently isn't enough, that same agency is now using its resources (our taxes) to deprive us of our existing legal right to individually solve the food system problem that they helped create, by simply growing our own.

So now it is our state agricultural policy to not only support factory farms but also to prevent farms in urbanized areas where 80% of us live, with the clear outcome that we can only eat what the intensive farm operations produce. And in that case our food dollars support the corporations that built the factory farms, further enabling them to control the political process and to hide from us what it actually is that we're eating.

And it isn't as though all of that happened because no one was paying attention. We were paying attention. We objected in unprecedented number. And yet it still came to pass.

 

[mcbeers]

There are so many things that astonish about this whole situation.

The one that I can't stop thinking about is how for the past 30 years we have allowed our agricultural agency to use its resources (our taxes) to build up intensive farming operations in our state, at the clear expense of rural neighbors and the environment - and ultimately all of us who can no longer bear to eat the food produced from these kinds of intensive farm operations.

And since that apparently isn't enough, that same agency is now using its resources (our taxes) to deprive us of our existing legal right to individually solve the food system problem that they helped create, by simply growing our own.

So now it is our state agricultural policy to not only support factory farms but also to prevent farms in urbanized areas where 80% of us live, with the clear outcome that we can only eat what the intensive farm operations produce. And in that case our food dollars support the corporations that built the factory farms, further enabling them to control the political process and to hide from us what it actually is that we're eating.

And it isn't as though all of that happened because no one was paying attention. We were paying attention. We objected in unprecedented number. And yet it still came to pass.

So we are forced to pay taxes. They take our taxes and use them to make a food system we object to. Then take more of our taxes and force us to buy into their horrible food system.
How much of our hard earned wages are we going to be forced into giving to this government that is supposed to work for us, and the corporations that we abhor? I've been disgusted for a long time now, but this just took it to another level.

 

[HopeInSterling]

I was glad that I could make it to this meeting, it was worth the gas money, a flat tire and lack of sleep just to see how they act. I am so sorry for the outcome. Although expected, it is such a shame.... I wish we were taken as seriously as the one person that claimed to have an allergy or any one phoned in complaint. You guys are amazing and it seemed as though you made up the majority of the speakers. I dont believe that enough people even knew about this change. The amount of people this will effect is staggering and its too bad they were not all able to be present. *Not that I think it would have made a difference...... their decisions were made already. Also did not like how those presenters that were questioned seemed scrutinized, yet the guy (who spoke for the change) just blatantly ignored questions

 

[fuzzybutt love]

I seriously want to know when the next vote is for their positions....