WEST OLIVE, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Oct. 16, 2023) – An annual effort to raise funds for farmland preservation in Ottawa County was seen as a success by organizers.
The Ottawa County Agricultural Preservation Board last week disclosed final numbers from last month’s “Farms are the Tapas” event, held at the Red Shed in Hudsonville. Attendees sampled delicacies from four area restaurateurs, with the Harvest Knife Award for the best offering presented to Holy Smokers BBQ out of Holland.
The real winner was farmland preservation, as around $22,500 was raised. In 2022, more than $18,300 was garnered. The money will go towards acquiring conservation easements so that farmland won’t be converted into residential or commercial development. The OCAPB said that about 80 acres would be saved in this way this year, out of about 1,300 acres that were requested but unable to be kept at this point due to “funding constraints.”
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