2013_Spring - Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy

Protecting More Farms
Successful work with the Sends led to an unexpected
land protection opportunity when Robert Amon,
the out-of-state owner of Amon Farm, adjacent to
Send Brothers Farm, approached the Conservancy
about protecting his land, which had been farmed
by the Send brothers since the 1970s.
Located in Whitewater Township, the Amon Farm wasn’t
eligible for easements through the Acme Township’s
Farmland Preservation Program, but Amon offered to sell
his easement at 25 percent of its value if Grand Traverse
Regional Land Conservancy could find the funding.
The Conservancy’s Brian Bourdages gained permission
from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
to use Clean Michigan Initiative grant funds to buy the
easement, which, in turn, would protect the natural assets
in the Petobego Creek watershed of Grand Traverse Bay.
The Send brothers are now able to afford to
buy the property from Amon, and it will be
permanently designated for agricultural use.
With support from Grand Traverse Regional Land
Conservancy, Acme Township’s Farmland Program has
completed five easements to date, like those of the
Send family, totaling 530 acres of protected farmland,
with another 1,300 acres in the application process.
As new farm properties are protected, local citizens
will continue to enjoy the Send family’s fields of
sunflowers, corn, wheat and rye in the heart of Acme’s
farming and natural area—now, and in perpetuity.
FarmAbility Moves into
North US-31 Farming Corridor
In order for any farmland preservation program to be
successful, the farm community must see the benefits
to their own farm operations and to the community as
a whole.
A new program being launched in 2013, FarmAbility,
aims to do just that: educate and inform farm families
about preserving land for agriculture use in lieu
of selling.
With this program, designed by our colleagues at the
Leelanau Conservancy, farm families in Whitewater,
Milton, Elk Rapids, and Torch Lake townships will learn
how to plan for their farmland to stay in their family or
be permanently designated for active agricultural use
by others.
As the FarmAbility program educates more families
about preserving the family farm and the benefits of
agricultural preservation, the program will be more
successful, according to Brian Bourdages, farmland
protection manager with the Grand Traverse Regional
Land Conservancy.
“Most landowners will not consider restrictions on their
land, even for considerable compensation, without
confidence that their actions will spur other farmers
to do the same,” says Bourdages. “It’s crucial that
farmland programs like the one in Acme Township have
a critical mass of interested farm families.”
With enough involvement, a long-term business
environment for agriculture will stabilize and even grow,
creating large blocks of protected land dedicated to
agricultural use. FarmAbility will encourage families
not only to continue farming, but also to make new
investments in their operations. With funds for
participants to work on succession planning, food
safety, and environmental compliance through the
state’s MAEAP (Michigan Agricultural Environmental
Assurance Program) program, these new investments
can happen in a manner that sustains our farmland,
businesses, environment and water quality.
And that’s a win for farmers and the environment.
Our FarmAbility Program partners include:
Grand Traverse Conservation District
MSU NW Michigan Horticultural Research Station
MSU Extension—Center for Regional Food Systems
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