The Suttons Bay Gregory family and Cherry Bay Orchards, one of the most successful farming operations in the state of Michigan, have donated the development rights on 107 acres of prime fruit-growing land along Leelanau Peninsula’s 633 corridor in Northern Michigan to the Leelanau Conservancy.
Both Don and Bob Gregory and their wives, Ann and Dianne, think that Leelanau’s farmland is a precious commodity, and ought to be preserved for those who want to farm in the future—like Don’s daughter Emily Miezio and her husband, Mark, who left promising careers in Chicago to actualize a dream of living the farm life and raising children in the house where Emily grew up.
Both generations share a love of the land. “One of our philosophies is that even though our name may be on the deed to the property, we’re here on earth for a very short period of time,” says Don Gregory. “We want to leave the land in as good or better shape than when we took it over.”
Click here to read more about the Gregory family, their farm operation and why they think farmland preservation is critical.