WOODLAND TOWNSHIP - An old 115-acre farm in Woodland Township will remain untouched by development thanks to the first official permanent conservation easement in Barry County.

The agreement is a joint venture between the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Rescues Conservation Service and Barry County officials. It will keep the land in agricultural use for the foreseeable future.

“Too much farm land is going into development,” said owner Stephen DeGroote, who farms nearly 4,000 total acres across Barry County with his wife, Sandra, his daughter Stacey Morten and her husband Jeff. “All that development reduces the acreage of farm land available.”

The incentive behind the venture is to keep farm land as it is. In this case, Barry County purchases developmental rights from the owner permanently as part of a $103,500 grant - though grant values may vary - which was the appraised development rights value. The land cannot be used for any other purpose than farming.

The USDA farm and ranch land protection programs gives 50 percent of the funding, with the MDA and state funding providing the rest.

“Our program is important because we provide funds to the entire state of Michigan for qualifying programs,” said MDA Purchase of Development Rights coordinator Elizabeth Juras. “That creates an incentive for local units of government to create such preservations.”

Without the incentive, housing developments and urban expansion would continue to threaten rural farm land unchecked. And that makes it more difficult for farmers to find useable land to work.

“When you drive around and see all the houses popping up on farm ground, we're just really worried we're going to lose all that farm land,” said Morten, who sees farmers struggling to find more land to cultivate. “Farmers are fighting over it now, going to different farms and offering more money to farm. It's getting cut-throat.”

This agreement could help. Though it's a new program - annual application cycles began in 2006 - it provides an alternative to farmers and land-owners alike who'd rather keep their land unmodified than see it become part of urban housing or sprawl.

It's also a good way to keep farming ground in the family.

“They say this is some of the best [farm ground] in Woodland Township,” said the 67-year-old DeGroote, who has been farming since he bought his first piece of land when he was 17. “My dad was a farmer too, I took over from there. Now I've shared my tour of duty, now I've got to turn it over to the younger guys. Now I know it will be there.”