Local Agriculture Movement Continues to Grow
Posted by Amy Clickner on February 23, 2012
We’ve heard a lot of great feedback in our office regarding a column I did last month on agribusiness. Judging by the response and the realization of how much momentum local agriculture continues to gain, we plan to do a few more columns on the topic.
In the last agribusiness column we discussed the overall impact agribusiness has on our local and state economy, how demand for food production and distribution is changing and what opportunities are forecasted. We talked to several people about agribusiness in the Upper Peninsula and Marquette County. One thing that everyone definitely agrees upon is that more people are selling and buying locally produced goods, and a lot of this activity is coming from “hobby farms,” or small farms maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income.
Tony Giorgianni, interim store manager at Tractor Supply Company agrees that more and more people are getting in to raising crops or livestock in our area. “It looks as though we’re seeing an increase in the cottage industry of agriculture with locally owned, small family operations. It’s seems to be a ‘back to basics’ movement where people are looking for more organic, locally produced goods and producing their food themselves.”
Tony says that he sees an increased community involvement in raising chickens. “At Tractor Supply we have what we call ‘Chick Days’ where we sell chicks that are in-stock or by special order. The chickens definitely sell fast!” Tony also said that it seems as though some cities and townships have become less stringent with ordinances, allowing for people to keep layers or egg birds. Chick Days at Tractor Supply run from February 27 until April 22.
Tony believes there is also increased interest in raising goats for meat and milk production, llamas, highland cattle and other livestock. I thought it was interesting when Tony told us that the store has provided resources for bee-keepers and syrup producers.
“Maple syrup is becoming more popular because of the warmer weather we are getting earlier in the year,” Tony said, “So the season for syrup production is getting longer.” He also explained that our area is great for syrup production because of the kinds of trees we have in our area, and that there are many kinds of trees that can be tapped to gather sap for syrup making. This will be the first season Tractor Supply will have an assortment of these supplies in stock.
Another help for cultivating agribusiness in the State is the Michigan Cottage Industry Law, passed in July of 2010, which allows the production and sale of some goods from a home business without requiring inspections and special licenses. Learn more about the Cottage Industry Law at michigan.gov/mda.
As I mentioned in the last agribusiness column, Farm Journal Magazine reports that several experts claim that food production will have to double by the year 2050 to keep pace with a growing population, so the increase in food production at a local level is positive, even if it’s a small scale operation.
If you are interested in learning more about agribusiness in Michigan, a list of resources can be found at http://www.michigan.gov/mdard. Also, look for local support and resources at some of our partner business who are involved in this sector such as Tractor Supply Company or the Marquette Food Co-op. For more information on the Lake Superior Community Partnership please visit www.marquette.org or write to us at lscp@marquette.org.
