Sentinel Staff IONIA — An Ionia farm has received environmental recognition from a state program for implementing conservation practices. Tim and Deana Rodel of Rodel Farms in Ionia received verification from the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, according to a news release from the Ionia Conservation District. MAEAP is described in the release as “a voluntary program aimed at helping producers protect the environment by implementing conservation practices on their land.” Rodel Farms worked with the Ionia Conservation District to identify environmental risks on its farm and to create a plan to mitigate them. Rodel Farms received its MAEAP verification in livestock, cropping and farmstead. The livestock and cropping verifications look directly at those aspects of the farm and risks related to manure and pesticides.