|
 Agriculture
AGRICULTURE The receding glaciers left a legacy of variable topography and geology to the land owners of Newaygo County. Rolling hills were transformed into fruitful orchards of apples and dairy farms. Bogs and lowlands were changed by the European immigrants into vegetable and mint producing mucklands. Flatlands are reserved for production of clean tillage crops such as corn and soybeans. Due to variable terrain, this area is most diversified into many forms of plant and animal husbandry. During harvest season, home-based vegetable and fruit stands pop up along our roadways complementing the wide variety of goods available at farm markets throughout the area. PRODUCTION SUMMARY Fremont serves as an agribusiness service hub for this portion of West Michigan. Newaygo County's diversified agriculture annually produces in excess of $46 million in farm gate sales of raw agricultural products from approximately 85,000 acres of picturesque farmland. Nearly one-half of the gross farm sales are generated on livestock farms with dairy production as the largest single commodity. The nation's first Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) was founded in Fremont in 1905, and it remains an important part of the area's 150 commercial grade A dairy farms, with 45% of the approximately 7,500 dairy cows enrolled. Corn and forage production utilizes in excess of 50,000 acres mainly for the area's livestock. Equine numbers exceed 2,000. Vegetable production is in excess of 5,000 acres with carrots and onions leading an extensively varied list of products. Fruit production exceeds 3,000 acres, two-thirds of which are apples.
Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce 
History | Statistics | Schools | Business | Public | Health | Agriculture | Home | |||||||||||||||||
