Michigan Right to Farm Law, what does it mean?

[blackswan]

I have contacted and communicated directly with my state rep- Andrea LaFontaine. I spoke with her assistant on Friday and he will be calling me today with information. He is contacting someone at the Michigan Farm Bureau. He also said that this EXACT problem (city/township vs BYC) occured last year in the neighboring township and the township was informed that the BYC is protected under RTFA.

I'll report back

 

[wingless]

I didn't realize you had already done this search. I posted a few links.. .were any of those groups in your search? Did you contact anyone?
I'm perfectly willing to organize, but my time commitment would be limited to after work and some weekends.

Please elaborate on the recommendations you were given at the MDRAD meeting. Sounds like they want to be a part of the solution, which is a great place to start.

Things to think about
1. Name of the group
2, Mission/goals
3. Resources-we could pull from other established groups and invite.
4. Meetings/communication

The sites I found (and joined) are these:

http://www.miffs.org/
http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/

The folks at the Ag Commission basically expressed enthusiasm to have me engage in the 2013 GAAMPS process, and directed me to provide my contact info to Gordon Wenk. I had an extended conversation with him, and thought he would contact me - but as we all now know, the 2013 draft GAAMPS were all published a short time later, and it was too late to get in on that process. Nice if Mr. Wenk had clued me in on that.

 

[wingless]

The problem with showing up to the meeting is geography. Not everyone is able to make the meetings because of the distance. Should we be contacting our state reps about this?

Agreed! The commission meetings do move around, but no matter where they are most of us can't get to any given meeting.

Here is the list of meeting times and places for the rest of the year: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdard/2012_Commission_Meeting_Sch_369246_7.pdf

 

[CaraBear]

I'm all in favor of having some sort of group, to help with 'lobbying' efforts with MDARD, etc. to protect urban farming...chickens, bees, front yard gardens, whatever....

I'm very distressed by the possible change to the GAAMPs that would totally preclude my having a coop in my backyard...

I cannot be at the Ag Commission meeting, but could we submit some sort of letter to them to be included in the agenda as a statement? (I know they do that here with City Council and Planning Commission meetings, and the letters are included in the minutes...) or can someone read on our behalf? should we start a petition on change.org?

 

[wingless]

I have contacted and communicated directly with my state rep- Andrea LaFontaine. I spoke with her assistant on Friday and he will be calling me today with information. He is contacting someone at the Michigan Farm Bureau. He also said that this EXACT problem (city/township vs BYC) occured last year in the neighboring township and the township was informed that the BYC is protected under RTFA.

I'll report back

blackswan that is terrific news. If there is any chance that chickens will be considered legal there in 2012 but not in 2013 (because of changes to GAAMPS - I would get them in 2012. In that case, even if the change to the 2013 GAAMPS language is successful you will have a good chance of being grandfathered in.

I am also meeting with my state rep, Rebekah Warren, on August 13th. I contacted her when I applied for a position on the Ag Commission (something ANYONE can do - just ask me how) - and she wrote a letter of support to Gov Snyder for my application. I used that communication to ask her to meet with me, and she agreed.

The thing I've been struck by recently with all these GAAMPS language changes is how radical they are. To my way of understanding, the 1999 legislature spread RTF protection to everyone in the state with a commercial farming operation - and added very strong language to tell local governments not to mess with their decision. Too bad they didn't similarly dissuade MDARD, because the 2012 GAAMPS language exempts everyone who lives in a city of more than 100,000. That is currently 7 cities, and if you add up the populations of those cities you get 1.5 million Michiganders who lost RTF protection - with several more additional cities very close to that 100,000 threshold. The population of Michigan is about 10 million, so that means 15% of us were disenfranchised from RTF protection by MDARD in 2012.

But then comes the 2013 GAAMPS language, which exempts RTF protection from everyone in Michigan who does not live on property that is zoned Agricultural. I couldn't get exact numbers, of course, but the USDA estimates that in 2011 about 1.8 million Michiganders are "rural", and 8 million are "urban". So if the 2013 GAAMPS language passes, 8 million Michiganders - 80 percent of us - lose RTF protection. And all of this is accomplished with a few changes to the language in the GAAMPS, and the votes of exactly 5 unelected Ag Commissioners.

But it is only a draft, and there is still time.

 

[wingless]

I'm all in favor of having some sort of group, to help with 'lobbying' efforts with MDARD, etc. to protect urban farming...chickens, bees, front yard gardens, whatever....

I'm very distressed by the possible change to the GAAMPs that would totally preclude my having a coop in my backyard...

I cannot be at the Ag Commission meeting, but could we submit some sort of letter to them to be included in the agenda as a statement? (I know they do that here with City Council and Planning Commission meetings, and the letters are included in the minutes...) or can someone read on our behalf? should we start a petition on change.org?

Hi CaraBear -

I'm not sure what it takes to get on the Ag Commission agenda, but anyone can speak for 3 minutes at the end. This is what I did at the July meeting. I also gave them a written statement, but that was not posted on the MDARD website with other documents the Commission received at that meeting: http://www.michigan.gov/mdard/0,4610,7-125-1572_2878-219792--,00.html, but perhaps it will show up in the minutes.

The next meeting is August 8th. I am going and RaZ is going. blackswan sent a statement that I will print and provide to the Commission. If anyone else would like to do the same - either individually or as a group effort - I would be very happy to pass that on as well. If someone wants to make a video statement, I'll bring my computer and play it for them. Or I'll set up Skype as our friend in South Africa suggested, so you can speak to them directly! Just let me know what works for you.

 

[MI-CHick]

Potential places to contact for help with our fight – Mother Earth News, Forgotten Harvest, Local Motion Green, American Farmland Trust - http://farmland.org/programs/localfood/default.asp,

There are a lot of fb groups about byc, urban homesteading and buying local, maybe contact some of them/post in those forums.

 

[CaraBear]

The thing I've been struck by recently with all these GAAMPS language changes is how radical they are. To my way of understanding, the 1999 legislature spread RTF protection to everyone in the state with a commercial farming operation - and added very strong language to tell local governments not to mess with their decision. Too bad they didn't similarly dissuade MDARD, because the 2012 GAAMPS language exempts everyone who lives in a city of more than 100,000. That is currently 7 cities, and if you add up the populations of those cities you get 1.5 million Michiganders who lost RTF protection - with several more additional cities very close to that 100,000 threshold. The population of Michigan is about 10 million, so that means 15% of us were disenfranchised from RTF protection by MDARD in 2012.

But then comes the 2013 GAAMPS language, which exempts RTF protection from everyone in Michigan who does not live on property that is zoned Agricultural. I couldn't get exact numbers, of course, but the USDA estimates that in 2011 about 1.8 million Michiganders are "rural", and 8 million are "urban". So if the 2013 GAAMPS language passes, 8 million Michiganders - 80 percent of us - lose RTF protection. And all of this is accomplished with a few changes to the language in the GAAMPS, and the votes of exactly 5 unelected Ag Commissioners.

But it is only a draft, and there is still time.

wingless - I think this definitely hits on my feelings - how, when the legislature passed a law, can just one 5 person commission make such dramatic and sweeping changes that seemingly invalid a measure that has been passed by our government and supported by court decisions?

While city governments argue that the MRTFA was not passed to support urban/backyard farming, the fact is that THE LAW ALLOWS IT - regardless of intent - and I firmly believe that if it was meant to protect only those farms on zoned-agricultural property, it would have been designated as such PRIOR to NOW!

Okay - I'll try not to rant, and will continue to put my thoughts into some sort of 'address' to the Ag Commission...

 

[blackswan]

Hi everyone,
I still haven't heard back from Andrea's office.

I would like to set up and host an informational meeting one early evening within the next month on the topic of BYC. I would hold this meeting in our library here in New Baltimore. I have a few local residents that have already commited to share their information, and I would like to extend the invitation to anyone else that wishes to attend. I hope to hold this meeting sometime in August-- one week day, late afternoon/early evening.

Even if you don't want to present anything, your presence would be appreciated. My intention is to add positive experiences and successful BYC keeping experiences. Also, be able to address common issues and what to do. You are the experts, IMHO.

I would put together a short powerpoint and pictures of your coops and chickens would help greatly.

I will extend this inviation to the community at large as well as my elected officials.

Additionally I will contact our local paper (who already reported on this topic in the paper twice).

New Baltimore is located in northern Macomb county-off I-94 and 26 mile road. I reallize that for some this would be quite a trek. Even if this is the start of a Michigan group we can move meetings around the area.. maybe 4 times a year? 2 times a year? With email/facebook/message boards-that may be enough. Single residents.. here and there.. trying to change ordinances doesn't seem to work. We need to be thought of as experts and present ourselves this way. I will also contact the 4H in our area.

Any suggestions? Questions? Please contact me via PM for more details, but I will post here when the final date/time is set.

Thank you
Michelle

 

[RaZ]

Even though it's an hour and a half drive, I'll attend.