West Michigan is home to one of the most economically beneficial agricultural landscapes in the state.
The region has gained its agricultural notoriety, in part, because of what is commonly known as the Fruit Ridge. It spans through portions of Kent, Newaygo, Muskegon and Ottawa counties that have desirable land for growing fruits including raspberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, grapes and apples.
According to Gordon Moeller, the secretary and treasurer for Ridge Economic Agricultural Partners (REAP), the Fruit Ridge is made up of ridges of sand and gravel left by the last ice age, which he said is perfect for growing apples because apples like well-drained soil and the ridges allow the cold air to settle in the valleys, protecting the apple blossoms from freezes.
Moeller said REAP was created in 2004 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit by MSU Extension after devastating straight-line winds destroyed 100,000 apple trees on the Fruit Ridge. Its purpose is to educate and promote the economic, environmental and cultural significance of agriculture in west central Michigan, especially the retail farms and orchards on the Fruit Ridge.
REAP currently has 36 members and the retail and wholesale growers raise 70% of Michigan’s apples (about 25 million bushels) and six apple packers help distribute them around the world.
“We are very proud to have the Fruit Ridge in Michigan,” said Rose Spickler, membership manager for the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. “It is an economic driver that we prefer to have here, in our own back yard, rather than in another state or across the world. That keeps our economic growth here and it is beneficial for us because it is local. Growing food locally is the largest sustainability attribute — not having to transport food across the country or across the world definitely cuts down on emissions.”
Agriculture is Michigan’s second-largest economic driver, bringing in about $104.7 billion annually, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD).
In 2018, 1,050 billion pounds of apples were harvested in Michigan. According to MDARD, about 50% of the harvest was used for processing. There are more than 11.3 million apple trees in commercial production, covering 35,500 acres on 825 family-run farms.
One of the family-run farms is Ed Dunneback and Girls Farm in Grand Rapids, which hosted a WMSBF event earlier this month. The farm has been in Stephanie Ginsberg’s family for four generations. The farm, which is also a part of REAP and located at the beginning of the Fruit Ridge, is 170 acres and produces strawberries, apples, cherries, asparagus, soybeans and corn. Some of the apples are sold to producers, Ginsberg said, but others are sold at an onsite farmers market.
Nevertheless, farms have evolved to become more than a place where people just grow produce and crops and raise livestock. Some farms have incorporated a different revenue stream by offering entertainment to their consumers.
Ginsberg’s family, for example, has capitalized on different options by including a brewery, winery, cidery, restaurant, musical entertainment, U-pick options and other activities on the farm to bolster revenue.
“A lot of our members do agritourism,” Moeller said. “They do corn mazes, hayrides, pick-your-own pumpkin patch. In other words, they try to have multiple businesses so that if one of the businesses has an off year, they can still have a financially good year.”
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June 26, 2021 at 03:02AM
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