Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[RaZ]

It has been fairly quiet on the small farm front for the past couple of years. MSFC hasn't had a whole lot to do. Thankfully!

That all changed Friday before Mother's Day.
Hidden Creek Farm in Dalton Township , Muskegeon County was served with a court order to shut down their flower sale for Mother's Day. This farm was given less than 24 hour notice of a TRO and they HAD to have an attorney with them in court on Friday.
Additionally they are being sued by a neighbor for a large sum of money and the township is also suing them

Fortunately, these folks got some help from the MSFC and the Farm To Consumer Legal Defense Fund. The fight for food and farm freedom is not over by a long shot.

 

[RaZ]

The Ag Commissioners are meeting today and we have Wendy Banka of the MSFC (Michigan Small Farm Council) in attendance The commissioners are voting on changes to the GAAMPs that remove the references to zoning that were added to the GAAMPs and created "categories" where small farm could or could not exist. That language clearly violated the expressed INTENT of the Michigan law known as the Right to Farm Act (*RFTA) as well as the US Constitution.

I just received a text from Wendy that the meeting is packed! A lot of the retired MDARD people who worked behind the scenes to thwart small farms and backyard flocks have arrived at the meeting.

Stay tuned folks, this is going to be interesting.

 

[Leahs Mom]

 

[aart]

That all changed Friday before Mother's Day.
Hidden Creek Farm in Dalton Township , Muskegeon County was served with a court order to shut down their flower sale for Mother's Day. This farm was given less than 24 hour notice of a TRO and they HAD to have an attorney with them in court on Friday.
Additionally they are being sued by a neighbor for a large sum of money and the township is also suing them

Wonders what all sides of the story are...not finding any news items by googling.

 

[RaZ]

I guess the Ag Comm meeting today was pretty packed and even had some of the old MDARD minions there. It turned out to be a victory for small farm operations in Michigan. However there will be a time lag. Below is a brief summary from MSFC President Wendy Banka.

"The take home message is this: In the middle of the meeting Commissioner Dru Montri asked that the Farm Markets GAAMP be added to the agenda, as the last item. This was agreed to. When we got there, she said that while she would like to remove all references to zoning in that GAAMP on the spot, that it actually showed up in a number of places, and she felt that more time should be spent to make sure that was done with care. She then asked for a 5 minute recess in the meeting so the Commissioners could draft a resolution, which they did. I don’t have the exact wording, but in effect it says that the Ag Commission supports the sales of any products grown on a farm, at that farm. That passed, and the meeting adjourned.

Ben Tirrell, the new RTF Manager was sitting next to me, so I asked him how the new resolution would help Crystal in the immediate term. He said that she could now contact him for a new GAAMPs review of their farm, which they would do, and then would provide her with a letter stating that she is compliant with all the GAAMPs and so able to continue her farm operation, and, based on the resolution passed by the Ag Commission, could also sell any of her farm products on her farm. That letter should be enough to convince the township and judge, presumably, that she is acting within her rights."

This whole attack happened quickly. Thursday afternoon to Wednesday morning. Luckily the Agriculture Commissioner's Meeting was already scheduled. The next meeting should be interesting as the events of the last five (5) days becomes public.

Stay tuned, Farm Fans.

 

[RaZ]

Next topic:
I'm trying to gauge the interest in how many folks would be interested in a fund raiser T-shirt to support the Michigan Small Farm Council and the fight for food freedom. If people are interested in supporting this effort that MSFC puts in for the rights of all small farm operators in Michigan.

This was designed by Randy Buchler of Shady Groves Farm in the UP. Randy is one of the founders of MSFC and is on the BOD.He has used this t-shirt in other fund raisers and people really seem to respond to it.
Donation would be $25 with proceeds going to MSFC to help make sure that resources are available for helping our friends and neighbors.

If there is interest then I can bring the shirts to Chicken Stock on June 15th. That's one month from now!

PM me with your size. Thank you.

 

[David Albert]

Hey everyone, new to the site, and wanted to share some info on chicken feed that we are selling. We live in Lansing, and have been selling premium chicken feed by the 50lb bag for $15, for over a year now. We've got a nice little homestead here with 14 chickens, two bee hives, and lots of garden! I attached a flyer with the chicken feed info. Let me know if anyone is interested. Thanks!

 

[1muttsfan]

Welcome to BYC and the Michigan thread

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC @David Albert !

 

[chickflick]