Michigan Farm Bureau President Ben LaCross’s opening remarks at the Lansing Legislative Seminar (LLS) luncheon included this key message: “It’s about building relationships that matter.”
Fittingly, it was Farm Bureau’s organizational relationship with state lawmakers and regulators — “the heart of Farm Bureau’s work” Ben called it — that took center stage that day.
That, though, requires other relationships already being well established:
- The relationship among members in which your unity as a like-minded group is rooted; and
- The relationship between staff and members: a bond made of trust, credibility, integrity, consistency and support.
Both are evergreen works in progress, constantly evolving, growing, encouraging and welcoming new members, especially the 300 or so who turn out from all corners of Michigan for a one-day gig in Lansing — in February, no less.
Speaking of… Flip a coin: It was either coincidence (heads) or sheer luck (tails) that most of good people I chatted up at this year’s LLS were among the 107 newbies attending that event for the first time:
Ogemaw
I plopped down beside young Brady Zettle at one of the District 10 tables before the lunch program took off. His deep red hair made him an easy target, and with a friendly smile he confirmed my first suspicion that he was family: a chip off the block of longtime Ogemaw County Farm Bureau leader Peggy Zettle.
Smart Young Farmer that he is, Brady’s learning a trade in addition to keeping his hands farm-dirty on the side. Currently he’s focused on earning his journeyman electrician license, having completed his electrical technology certificate from the Institute of Agricultural Technology at Michigan State.
With that he hopes to incorporate his skills into his family’s ag-construction business, but on the side he’s also begun raising some specialty crops.
“I’ve got 1,300 garlic plants in the ground,” he said with a satisfied smile, adding that he intends to eventually expand the roster to include carrots, pumpkins and potatoes.
But at LLS, Brady had his hungry Young Farmer hat on and was enjoying a day of content pertinent to his agricultural passion.
“I’ve already learned about some issues in the morning sessions,” he said, singling out zoning and land-use topics that are on his mind as he makes plans for growing his roadside market.
“I didn’t realize some of that’s changed in recent years,” he said, adding that an update on deer management also caught his interest. “That really hits home in my area.”
Washtenaw
It wasn’t Jill Dohner’s first Lansing Legislative Seminar; it was her second.
“Why I’m here is twofold: I’m a farmer myself, and Farm Bureau really has its hands and fingers in all things agriculture,” began the third-year board member of the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau.
“I’m also executive director of MIFarmLink,” she added, referring to the now statewide enterprise built to pair new farmers with available farmland.
After pilot runs in Ottawa and Washtenaw counties, Dohner took the platform statewide just last fall, collaborating with the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts.
Some weary gestures and facial expressions seemed to confirm, unnecessarily, these are challenging times for the “eFarmony” resource Dohner manages.
“Michigan farmland is some of the most expensive in the nation,” she said, singling out two well-known culprits for the inflation: data centers and solar farms.
To that she added only: “I’d like to talk to our legislators…”
Wayne
Like the City of Detroit itself, the Wayne County Farm Bureau continued its ongoing resurgence with a strong showing at this year’s legislative day.
Members Mark and Candi Fentress came equipped with a list of questions from their senior-class students at Detroit’s Marygrove High School (where they’re also equipping the school cafeteria with its own hydroponic system; more on that later this spring).
That’s our urban-ag power couple in the photo above, taking advantage of some face time with Dist. 13 State Senator Rosemary Bayer, currently serving her final term in the state legislature.
Mason
After representing Mason County Farm Bureau on the state-annual delegate floor last year, longtime sheriff Kim Cole attended his first Lansing Legislative Seminar from the timely perspective of seeking a higher office. Tapped by term-limited Dist. 32 Sen. Jon Bumstead, Cole is vying to replace the Newaygo County Republican in representing west-coast Michiganders from Frankfort to Fruitport.
“As the sheriff for a farming community for 41 years, I understand the struggles farmers face,” Cole said, adding that the county Farm Bureau has been a close ally in fortifying his understanding of the industry.
“I get frustrated at the lack of common sense in rules and regulations. It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said. “Regulations should foster growth, not oppress growth. We need to weed through that quagmire to make it easier for farmers to flourish.”
Cole specifically mentioned Mason County’s well-attended Farm to Fork events, comingling farmers with community leaders from outside the ag sector, as a particularly effective part of his ag education.
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