MEET OUR FARMERS

Our Neighbors

Did you know that today, nearly all Michigan farms – 99 percent – are family owned? While our farms may come in different shapes and sizes, we all value the same thing: responsibly growing safe, healthy food for your table and ours. We are excited to share our stories with you and answer your questions about how your food is grown on our farms.

Get to know local farm families by clicking on the map pins near your location.
Want to know more? Click on the link to watch the videos to hear more about their farm.

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Meghan & Madison Kenny, Corn, Soybeans, Sugar Beets, and Pickle Farmers From Hemlock, MI

“It’s so cool how you can go within your state and see so many different things grown.”

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Michelle Borek-Stine, A Dairy Veterinarian From Marlette, Michigan

“Being a dairy veterinarian, you have the ability to help make these cows more productive and healthy, but it also makes families’ lives better.”

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Lisa Szymanski, A Corn, Wheat, & Dry Beans Farmer From Port Austin, Michigan

“Its really fun to be out there [farming] with your family, with your daughter; this is all she knows and that’s what she wants to do and if we’re lucky this will be her farm someday.”

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Kyle & Dave Bosserd, Cattle Farmers From Marshall, Michigan

“Seeing where your food comes from is really important to me and letting other people know where their food comes from.”

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Bryan Posthumus

Shara Trierweiler, An Organic Pig and Mushroom Farmer from Dansville, Michigan

“When you look at it, Michigan farmers put a lot of work into what they’re doing…I’m full of hope for farming in Michigan and I’m full of hope for farming in the next generation.”

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Carla Shultz

Mason Horning

Jake Isley, A Crop Farmer From Southeast Michigan

“Precision agriculture really helps us understand and know exactly what is being applied so we apply only what’s needed, we don’t have a scenario where we’re over-applying, and ensure that we are producing a crop in a safe and a nutritious way. Really as farmers, we care about quality, nutritious food, not only for our own family, but for yours as well.”

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Karl Wernette, A Beef Cattle Farmer From Central Michigan

“We eat the product just like consumers do. We get to see it from beginning to end, so we do our best to try low-stress cattle handling techniques. If you’re calm while you’re working cattle, they will be calm too.”

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Stephanie Kipp, A Potato Farmer From Central Michigan

“We depend on this land, so it’s our top priority that we treat the land right. We’ve been farming this land for a hundred years, and our goal is to be farming for another hundred years.”

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Travis Buus and Jeff Smith, Turkey Farmers From West Michigan

“A good environment for the bird makes a quality, nutritious food for everyone, and that’s something we take pride in.”

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The Stutzman Family, Chicken Farmers From Southern Michigan

“It’s very important to us to have a quality bird. If I personally wouldn’t want to feed it to my family, I wouldn’t want anyone else to feed it to theirs.”

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Adam Dickerson and Rob Knecht, Egg Farmers From West Michigan

“No matter what kind of egg you buy, the easiest way to support Michigan egg producers is to eat more eggs. We treat all of our animals with respect to give our product integrity.”

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Ashley Messing-Kennedy, A Dairy Farmer From the Thumb

“Even though I’m a Michigan farmer I’m also a consumer, too. So everything we produce on our farm has to be safe for my family and your family. We take it very seriously making sure that we produce a safe, wholesome, healthy product every day.”

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Paul Pridgeon, A Pig Farmer From Southern Michigan

“As we make decisions here at Pridgeon Farms, one of our main commitments is that in every decision that we make we want to make sure it is for the best health of the animal. Whether it is how we feed an animal to how we care for an animal, how we make sure that animal doesn’t get sick and continues to be healthy. We firmly believe that a health animal leads to a healthy food supply.”

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Rita Herford, a Corn, Wheat, Sugarbeet & Dry Bean Farmer

“We’re going to do things right and do things environmentally friendly to hope that the next generation continues farming. Our philosophy on the farm is always to do things better before we doing things.”

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Ed Carpenter, a Christmas Tree Farmer from Laingsburg, Michigan

“Farmers feed our nutritional needs. Christmas tree farmers feed our soul.”

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Allan Robinette, an Apple Farmer from Grand Rapids, Michigan

“My favorite part about farming are the customers who come to my farm. We get to be part of their family tradition every year.”

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Andy Todosciuk, Farmer and Owner of Andy T’s Farm Market in St. Johns, Michigan

“When you’re buying from a local farmer or a local farm market, they’re growing it. So if you order pickles, you’re usually going to get them the day that they’re picked. You can’t get that anywhere else.”

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Steve Brock, A Dairy Farmer from Daggett, MI

“I wake up every morning just totally loving what I do. I can’t imagine not doing it at any point in my life.”