WEST OLIVE, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Apr. 6, 2022) – The Shady Side Farm in Olive Township has been awarded a $168,750 grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. These funds will help pay for an agricultural easement to permanently protect five parcels totaling 123 acres.
Mike Bronkema has been the co-owner and operator of Shady Side Farms since 1992. Bronkema says the farmer that sold him the land wanted to see it preserved and knew Bronkema was going to farm the land instead of subdividing it.
The Bronkemas will be the sixth farming family to protect their land through Ottawa County’s Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) program. This program uses a combination of state and/or federal grant funding, private donations, and landowner contributions to purchase the development rights to farmland, creating a permanent agricultural conservation easement.
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