Posted February 7, 2014
Small and urban farmers could lose protection of Michigan’s Right to Farm Act with a recent proposal by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), according to an article by Michigan Radio available here.
The Act protects farmers against nuisance suits if they follow the state’s Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices (GAAMPS).
The proposed change by MDARD would exclude farms with fewer than 50 animals from protection under the Right to Farm law, if those farms are in areas zoned as exclusively residential. Details on the current law and the proposed change are available here.
“We’re simply saying to the locals that you need to work through your local unit of government to determine what is acceptable within that community,” said Jim Johnson of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Johnson said the proposal would not ban farm animals from residential areas, but would leave the decision to local zoning boards.
Wendy Lockwood Banka, president of the Michigan Small Farm Council, opposes the change. Banka said the proposed changes would threaten small farms and backyard farmers, and “impede the local food movement and the wish of many to raise backyard chickens and grow their own food.”
The Michigan Right to Farm Act was “originally designed to protect commercial agricultural operations from being pushed out by changes in local zoning or land uses that conflict with common agricultural practices,” according to a M Live article available here.
For more information on right to farm laws, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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