ZEELAND TWP — A pair of farms in Zeeland Township have taken steps to permanently protect the future of their land use.
The farms of Holstege and Jongekrijg will now “be used to produce local food and preserve rural character in perpetuity” after selling development rights to Ottawa County through the Farmland Preservation Program.
By selling the rights and creating a permanent agricultural conservation easement, both properties will remain farmland into the future. No county funds are used in the process, with funding from private donations and state and federal grants.
The Holstege Farm is a 38-acre certified Michigan Centennial Farm that raises cattle and grows cash crops that largely stay in the area. The Jongekrijg Farm is 92 acres of cash crops and cattle with several conservation practices implemented on the land.
Owners of both farms said preserving farmland was a meaningful initiative.
“I was sure there for a while the last thing I ever planted here was going to be houses. Farmland is going so fast,” Tom Holstege wrote in a release. “I’m just really happy I got in the program so that I could preserve the farm. That’s my main goal. Not everything’s about money.”
Mark Jongekrijg said his farm has been in the family since 1937, and preservation efforts will help keep it in the family.
“My grandfather on my dad’s side bought this property in 1937, and my parents purchased it from him in 1951, so it’s got about 13-14 years to go to be a centennial farm. We’re working with my daughter and son-in-law and eventually we’ll turn it over to them,” Jongekrijg wrote.
Efforts to preserve the farms began in 2019, when Holstege reached out to Ottawa County’s Department of Strategic Impact. He began working with Economic Development Coordinator Becky Huttenga and Farmland Preservation Analyst Julie Lamer.
At the time, Zeeland Township had not yet passed a resolution to support the Farmland Preservation Program, which meant Holstege's land didn’t qualify.
Holstege began attending township board meetings, along with Mark and Norma Jongekrijg. After encouragement from Holstege and the Jongekrijgs, Zeeland Township passed a resolution to support the program.
Both farms applied and, in back-to-back years, scored high enough to be selected. Huttenga and Lamer then worked to secure funding for the easements.
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The farms became officially protected on Feb. 27 and March 19, nearly five years after the initial inquiries from the owners.
The Ottawa County Farmland Preservation Program has preserved 697 acres of farmland so far. To learn more, visit miottawa.org/departments/planning/farmland.htm.