Michigan farmers don’t have to follow certain local ordinances about their farms – as long as the farmers follow the Right to Farm Act. The Attorney General’s opinion doesn’t come as a surprise – but it is a relief to farmers.
This has long been the interpretation – that the Right to Farm Act trumps local ordinances.
Jim Johnson is with the Michigan Department of Agriculture. He says this decision lets farmers change up their businesses through things like on site markets and growing different crops.
“You don’t have to go very far within the farm community to see places where farmers have become very diverse.”
Environmental groups don’t like the decision. They say the Right to Farm Act allows farmers to skirt local pollution ordinances as long as they don’t violate state and federal laws.