Michigan Bans Animals on Small Farms

The headline above inundated social media last week. On sites like offthegridnews.com, inquisitor.com and even the more main stream mlive.com.

Inquisitr.com sated “Michigan residents lost their “right to farm” this week thanks to a new ruling by the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development.”

Offthegridnews.com quoted a backyard agrarian, “It’s all ‘Big Farm,’ and it’s ‘Big Farm’ deciding against the little farm,” Kim White, who raises chickens and rabbits, said of the Commission’s vote. “They don’t want us little guys feeding ourselves. They want us to go all to the big farms. They want to do away with small farms and I believe that is what’s motivating it.”

Both sources miss the point when it comes to Right to Farm (RTF) Law and Generally Accepted Agricultural Management Practices (GAAMP).

Right to Farm legislation was enacted a couple decades ago and was designed to protect established farms from nuisance litigation on behalf of urban neighbors moving to the country who were unaccustomed to agriculture’s seasonal dust migration and often unique odor. It was never intended no did it circumvent local zoning law or established local ordinances.

What the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development did was to clarify GAAMP so as not to infringe on those locally established zoning ordinances thus reaffirming the local governmental body’s right to govern themselves.

Earlier this week legislation was drafted in Lansing that would allow a reasonable number of acceptable livestock or other farm animals on a farm for subsistence purposes even if the land is zoned residential. Which, I believe would satisfy those worried about Government control over their backyard farms.