Ag Committee Develops New Strategies for Long-Term Farm Viability

(Editor’s Note: A big thank-you to OMP resident Molly Stretten, who is covering the Agricultural Advisory Committee meetings for the Gazette. Read on for her notes from last week’s meeting, where the group worked on strategies for long-term farm viability. -jb)

Despite frigid temperatures and the threat of an approaching blizzard, the Agricultural Advisory Committee (AAC) convened for its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, January 20. At the outset, the committee confirmed its 2026 meeting calendar and selected officers for the coming year. Leadership will remain unchanged, with John Kroupa continuing as Chair and Raul Gomez serving as Secretary.

The committee was also presented with a proposal from the Small Grower Subcommittee, delivered by Amie Shaw and myself. At the start of the presentation, we thanked our fellow subcommittee members for their time and contributions, including Chris Baldyga, Jen Bramer, Don Coe, Amanda Danielson, and Jed Hemming.

Although the subcommittee’s work initially focused on on-farm processing, the final recommendations proved more comprehensive than originally envisioned. Our reasoning was straightforward: as we examined the range and scale of producers on Old Mission Peninsula, it became clear that long-term farm viability — particularly for small growers — requires a more holistic approach.

As a result, the subcommittee devoted significant time to identifying clear use-by-right language that supports crop production, appropriate on-farm processing, updated agricultural definitions in line with GAAMPs and Right-to-Farm, and reliable markets and marketing activities for farm products. 

As stated in the preamble, “The intent of this document is not only to modernize and clarify agricultural land-use regulations, but also to produce a framework that is clear, legally defensible, and understandable to voters. This proposal prioritizes the elimination of ambiguity, alignment with applicable state and federal law, and the creation of scalable standards that support agricultural vitality without encouraging unchecked development or sprawl. While not a comprehensive ordinance for the Agricultural District, this document serves as a practical starting point for modernizing existing regulations through actionable provisions that may be adopted immediately.”

The AAC is set to discuss the proposal at a future meeting and make any necessary changes before forwarding to the zoning rewrite committee. To view the proposed framework, visit the Resources section of farmoldmission.com.

– Molly Stretten

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