About Us
About the Farmer-Led Watershed Conservation Group
Farmers helping farmers adopt best management practices to improve soil health, increase crop yields, reduce farm input costs, reduce nutrient loss, and improve water quality in the Western Lake Erie Basin. That's our mission with the Farmer-Led Watershed Conservation Group.
We welcome farmers to our monthly meetings, FLG events, and events within the districts we work, to learn more about the benefits of conservation, how they can implement conservation practices on their land, and how conservation practice implementation can save them money.
Our Goal
Water pollution comes from many sources, but some of it comes from farms.
Lake Erie suffers from toxic algal blooms fueled in part by excess phosphorus and other pollutants. In 2018, the state of Michigan released a road map for reducing phosphorus entering Lake Erie by 20 percent by 2020 -- and 40 percent by 2025.
We are working hard to help meet this goal by helping local farmers improve their operations!
Where We Work
The Farmer-Led Conservation Group works within the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB), specifically covering Lenawee County, Monroe County, and part of Washtenaw County. These counties fall within the River Raisin Watershed. The area outlined in the photo below shows the portion of the WLEB that is in Michigan.
Our People
Blaine Baker, Bakerlads Farm
Farmer Advocate
Jerry Heck, Heck Farms LLC
Farmer Advocate
Jim Isley, Sunrise Farms
Farmer Advocate
Bob Platt, Paragon Farms
Farmer Advocate
Aron Buechler, Farmer Advocate
Melissa Harris, Michigan Association of Conservation Districts
Rivka Hodgkinson, Michigan Association of Conservation Districts
Deanna Wagner, Monroe Conservation District
Jackson Cenusa, Monroe Conservation District
Brooke Bollwahn, Lenawee Conservation District
Allegra Baird, Lenawee Conservation District
Nick Machinski, Washtenaw Conservation District
Paul Buzzard, Washtenaw Conservation District
Lydia Lopez, River Raisin Watershed Council
Steve May, River Raisin Watershed Council
Joe Kelpinski, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
Kelcie Sweeney, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
Acknowledgement
The Farmer-led Watershed Conservation Group is grateful for the generous support of the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation.
