NW Michigan Food and Farming Network Report to the Community 2015 Report to the Community | Page 63

2015 Report to the community

FarmAbility Program Supports
Farmers and Preserves Farmland
5,000 acres of land
preserved in Leelanau
By Zane Schwaiger
Leelanau Conservancy
When a county-wide millage for a
publically-funded farmland preservation program failed in 2006, the
Leelanau Conservancy rolled up its
sleeves and went back to the drawing
board.
“We knew there was tremendous support in Leelanau County
for farmland preservation,” said
Executive Director Tom Nelson,
“but we wanted to come up with a
program that truly served the needs
of our farmers and could be funded
privately.”
So working with its partners—
Michigan State University Extension, Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Station, and Leelanau
Conservation District—the Conservancy developed FarmAbility.
As the first privately-run program
of its kind in the United States,
FarmAbility has three primary goals:
ensure up to 10,000 acres of farmland will remain available for local
food production for the next 10 years
or more; provide enrolled farmers
with access to educational programs
for enhanced farming practices and
improved profitability; and