March 6, 2008

WOODLAND TWP., Mich. - The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Barry County officials completed a permanent conservation easement on a 115-acre farm acquired using a combination of local, state, and federal dollars. This is the first agricultural land preservation agreement in Barry County, which permanently preserves a working farm for continued agricultural use.

The landowners, Stephen and Sandra DeGroote, currently grow corn and soybeans on the preserved property located along Davenport Road, about one-fourth mile west of Wellman Road, in Woodland Township. The farm’s location near M-43 has been subject to development pressure for residential use.

“The partnership between county, state, and federal government demonstrates amazing coordination to achieve a great common goal - preserving our farmland resource base,” said Don Koivisto, MDA Director.

The development rights on the parcel were acquired with a combination of funds from the state, as well as funds from the USDA’s Farm and Ranchland Protection Program. More than $5 million dollars in grants have been made to the State of Michigan to preserve farmland under the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program.

"It's always rewarding to see the Fund help agricultural producers keep their farms in farming, but it's especially gratifying to see the program extend into a county for the first time," said Wayne H. Wood, Michigan Agricultural Preservation Fund Board chairman. "Working farms are the lifeblood of Michigan's agriculture industry, and to this end, Stephen and Sandra DeGroote are to be commended for their commitment to the industry and their local agricultural community."

Since 2005, the Michigan Agricultural Preservation Fund has been making grants to local programs designed to purchase the development rights of working farms.

For more information on the Michigan Agricultural Preservation Fund and local farmland preservation programs visit MDA’s Web site at www.michigan.gov/farmland or contact the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Office at 517-373-3328.