January 1998

Group takes steps to preserve agriculture

When wine grape grower Larry Mawby looks out over his property on the Leelanau Peninsula in northwest Michigan he sees a perfect micro climate for his crops and huge homes being built all around him.

"People like living in the country, but they don't like some agricultural practices when its happening next to them," Mawby said. "Things are changing quickly in the area and we need to come up with some solutions."

Leelanau County, north of Traverse City is facing developmental pressures like other fruit and vegetable growing areas in the U.S. The American Farmland Trust found that 79% of the nation's fruit and 69% of its vegetables are produced on high quality farmland which is threatened by urban encroachment.

Leelanau County is unique in that it is a peninsula jutting out into Lake Michigan north of Traverse City. Its character gives it a unique micro climate and soils making it one of the best fruit growing areas in the world. The two biggest industries are agriculture and tourism.

The beautiful views from the high vistas on the peninsula and chronically low tart cherries prices have combined to raise a red flag over the future of agriculture in the area as some farmers look to develop their land to survive financially.

To come up with solutions to the development threat in Leelanau County a diverse group of people has formed the Leelanau Agricultural Alliance. Its mission: To conserve agriculture for the economic health and rural character of Leelanau County. Over 50 people have been involved in the group including fruit growers, township planners and supervisors, a historic museum, land conservancies and a womens' group.

Plan of attack

The Leelanau Agricultural Alliance has gotten $50,000 in grants from three organizations to look at ways to preserve agriculture, put together a tool kit for other areas facing the same issues and to promote local agriculture, said Jim Bardenhagen, Leelanau County Extension director.

"Even after we come up with tools to save open space we will still have more people around agriculture and we have to have a plan to help coexist with each other," he said. "We do have the right to farm, but we have to be realistic about our neighbors."

The Leelanau Agricultural Alliance is taking a four-fold approach to the issues to come up with long-term solutions and to help other areas facing the same problems. The four areas the group is looking at includes:

1) Assistance to township planning commissions and boards. There are several townships wrestling with master plans and agricultural zoning issues. Because of limited budgets there is a void in the ability of local officials to complete the amount of work necessary to gather, disseminate and educate their constituents about the options available for addressing the issues of zoning and tools related to the zoning and conservation of agricultural land.
The alliance is working to develop a "Agricultural Land Conservation Tool-kit," (ACT) as a hands-on resource for use by townships to fully understand the long-term relationship of agriculture land to its communities, to learn about the available and potential land-use planning tools that may be implemented locally, to develop a clear vision of what the local residents want for the future of agricultural land, and ultimately provide an atmosphere for agriculture to be viable and contributing land use in their communities, according to Rick Wilson of the Leelanau Conservancy. Funding for the project has come from a two-year $37,500-grant from the Rotary Charities of Traverse City. The money will be used in part to hire a consultant to look at all the legal issues surrounding zoning and purchasing of and transfer of development rights. (See accompanying article on the different options being looked for land preservation.)
The alliance has also funded a survey of farmers and large land owners in Bingham Township in Leelanau County to determine their attitudes toward the long-term future of agriculture in the township. The survey was funded by a $7,500 grant obtained from the Americana Foundation.
This information will be used to update the township's master plan and implement land-use strategies which will uphold property rights while conserving vital agricultural resources for the long-term benefit of the community.
Preliminary results for the survey indicate that there may be a large turnover in land in the next decade. About 36% of the major land owners plan to retire in the next 10 years and of those 25% didn't have a family member or anyone else who would take over the farm. This finding shows that a major portion of the township could turnover in the next few years and that the township leaders must get a plan in place now if they want to keep this land in agriculture.
The other finding that should sober farmers to who will control their future is the fact that 10% of Bingham Township's residents own 70% of the land.
"In terms of registered voters the owners of the smaller parcels have the decisive vote," Mawby said. "We have the land and they have the vote. That's why its important that farmers recognize that they need to be good neighbors to have good neighbors."

2) Education and informational support. The alliance believes that for the conservation of agriculture a general recognition is needed that farming is important for a local healthy economy and to its quality of life. The alliance's effort in this area will involve workshops and publications which further a broad understanding of the issues and pressures faced by farmers. The group recently received a $5,000 grant from the Coastal Zone Management Program to print a brochure on the importance of agriculture.

3) Addressing regional and state issues related to farmland conservation. The group will try to address property tax issues on agricultural land, support statewide purchase of development rights and transfer of development rights programs along with continuing with P.A. 116.

4) Marketing support for local growers. Efforts in this area will center on promoting "Leelanau Grown," products in local stores and markets, develop a database of growers and marketers and work closely with Project Greenfields and other regional agricultural marketing efforts.
The Leelanau Agricultural Alliance hopes that its efforts can help other areas looking for answers to help preserve agriculture and deal with urban sprawl. For more information call Jim Bardenhagen of MSU Extension at (616) 256-9888, Larry Mawby of Mawby Vineyards at (616) 271-3522 or Rick Wilson at Leelanau Conservancy at (616) 256-9665.