In the low, rolling hills of northeastern Ottawa County is the Klein family farm, which will now forever remain agricultural lands after being accepted into the Ottawa County Farmland Preservation Program this summer.

The easement covers 55.63 acres of their farm, which is adjacent to a 60-plus-acre parcel that was preserved by Michigan’s Farmland Preservation and Open Space Program. These two preserved properties create more than 115 acres of contiguous preserved farmland.

Farmland is disappearing across the nation, according to a study released by the American Farmland Trust in 2018. The report says almost 31 million acres of farmland were lost across the United States from 1992 to 2012 — equivalent to all the farmland in the state of Iowa.

Preserving prime farmland is critical to maintaining a high-quality, affordable food supply, according to the Ottawa County Agricultural Preservation Board, which is working to preserve county farmland using the Purchase of Development Rights program.

The county’s PDR program preserves farmland through the purchase and donation of development rights for actively farmed property. It is a voluntary program that allows participating landowners to receive compensation for the development potential of their land, and they still retain ownership and the majority of the rights associated with it. The future use of the property is then restricted to only agricultural purposes by permanent easement deed, preventing any future development of the land.

Additional tools to preserve farmland include agricultural protection zoning techniques via local unit of government master plans and zoning codes, transfer of development rights initiatives, land partnership agreements, and agricultural conservation easements.

The Kleins’ farm is the second farm to be preserved using the county’s PDR program.  In 2016, the county preserved 34.9 acres of a hog farm in Polkton Township. The preservation of these farms supports the program’s mission of preserving the scenic, environmental and economic benefits that farms and farmland provide to their local communities and beyond. 

“Agriculture is a huge economic driver in Ottawa County,” says Cliff Meeuwsen, president of Zeeland Farm Services and chair of the Ottawa County Agricultural Preservation Board. “Without the farmland needed to grow and raise our food, our county could slip from its current position as the third-highest producer of agricultural products in the state. We are passionate about using PDR as a tool for responsible development, which maintains farmland and creates opportunity for new farmers.” 

The Farmland Preservation Program is funded through private donations, contributions from foundations, and state and federal grants. Without these resources, the program would not be able to continue to preserve and protect local farmland.

If you are interested in making a contribution to the program, donations can be made to the Ottawa County Farmland Preservation Fund through the Holland/Zeeland Community Foundation. For additional program information, contact Julie Lamer, Farmland Preservation analyst at 616-738-4852 or [email protected], or visit the Ottawa County website.

Source: Ottawa County