Backyard Chickens in Danger in Michigan
Are backyard chickens, beehives, gardens a “farm” is the owner sells part or all of the bounty of the eggs, honey and vegetables from his/her yard? Until recently in Michigan, the answer was “Yes” urban, suburban and other micro-farming set-ups were considered “farms” under the guidelines governing certain state agricultural laws.
As a result of liberally protecting both non-traditional and conventional farms by law, agriculture has flourished under these state protections in Michigan. Michigan enjoys being the third largest agriculture producing states in America and is only second to California on diversity of its agriculture.
However, recent changes to the progressive farming laws in Michigan have had HUGE ramification on the future agriculture and more particularly urban chicken-keeping.
State of Michigan
In 1981, the Michigan legislature passed the Right to Farm Act, which deemed anyone who farmed their piece of land and followed certain guidelines to be a “farm.” Under the Act, farms are exempt from local city/county ordinances that attempt to limit or prohibit their existence. As a result, local, small-scale farming has boomed in the state of Michigan. In 2013, the state boasted 312 local farmers markets and 54,900 farms! The Right to Farm Act was arguably the most progressive and protective urban farming legislation on the books in the entire country.
Earlier this year, Michigan state agencies began advocating strongly for a change to the Right to Farm Act. The change these agencies sought was to eliminate the protection for untraditional, urban, micro-scaled farms. It is not clear what was motivating this call for change. Some speculate that it was large agro-business trying to squeeze out the local, small-scale farm competition. Others believe that the push originated with city governments demanding more local control.
Wendy Banka, the director of the Michigan Small Farm Council founded this non-profit group to help organize the many disenfranchised backyard farmers who feared they were about to lose their legal protection under the Right to Farm Act. Banka’s organization worked to advocate against the proposed changes to the Act, educate the public and lobby the Michigan state legislature about the importance of local, small farms. However, the organization was too late to stop the bureaucratic tide against them.
Today under the amended Right to Farm Act many, many urban farmers find themselves on the wrong side of the law and facing civil and criminal penalties under local ordinances prohibiting farming on their land. After decades of protection, countless urban chicken keepers now face the onerous alternatives of either giving up their backyard flocks or facing jail time.
In this week’s episode of the Urban Chicken Podcast, I am joined by Randy Zeilinger, who is a founding member of the Michigan Small Farm Council. Randy shares some history surrounding the Right to Farm Act, details about the Council and his own personal story of being dragged into court for keeping backyard chickens.
CHICKEN NEWS:
- Second Livestock’s website LINK
- C|NET – Oculus Rift…For Chickens?! ARTICLE
- Tech Crunch – Oculus Rift Allows Chickens to Roam without Roaming ARTICLE
- End Gadget – Even Chickens have Their Own Virtual World ARTICLE
- Metro – Chickens get a Tech Upgrade ARTICLE
- Deseret News – Chickens entering the Matrix? ARTICLE
MAIN SEGMENT:
- Michigan Small Farm Council (group fighting for urban chickens in MI) WEBSITE
- MI Small Farm Council Facebook page (to connect further) LINK
- Support the MI Small Farm Council with Tee Shirt Purchase BUY HERE
- Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund (Natl group MSFC associated with) LINK
- MoveOn – Petition to Keep MI “Right to Farm” Protections for small/urban farms LINK
- Backyard Poultry Magazine – What the Right to Farm Act Changes Mean ARTICLE
- Backyard Poultry Magazine – Right to Farm Act Unites Advocates ARTICLE
- Backyard Poultry Magazine – Not Just in MI, Know Your Local Laws ARTICLE
- Inquistr – MI loses “Right to Farm”- Farewell to Backyard Chickens ARTICLE
- The Bovine – Farewell to Backyard Chickens in Michigan ARTICLE
- Detroit News – Changes to Right to Farm Act Creates More Uncertainty ARTICLE
- Times Herald – Hobby Farms in MI might not be Okay any Longer ARTICLE
SALLY’S SIDENOTES:
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- CONTEST to win Avian Aqua Mizer LINK
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