The Ohio Department of Agriculture has announced that 12 land trusts, two counties, one township and six Soil and Water Conservation Districts will receive funding to help preserve farmland across the state. These organizations will receive allocations from the Clean Ohio Fund to manage the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (LAEPP).
Local sponsors have been certified to accept applications from landowners in 51 counties. Interested landowners should contact the sponsor in their area for application details. A total of $7,084,991 will be made available in this funding round. It is estimated this can leverage up to $14 million from the Agricultural Conservation Easement/Agricultural Land Easement Program administered by the US Natural Resources Conservation Service for a total of $21 million.
The program, which is voluntary and competitive, allows landowners to sell easements on their farms to the State of Ohio. The easement requires the farm remain permanently in agricultural production, supporting the state’s largest industry. Selected farms must be 40 or more acres, actively engaged in farming, participate in the Current Agricultural Use Valuation program, demonstrate good stewardship of the land, have support from local government and not lay directly in the path of development.
Landowners may use the proceeds of the easement in any way they wish, but most reinvest it in their farm operations.
Funding for the program is derived from the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund, approved by the voters in 2008. When combined with easements from all programs, 319 family farms in 55 counties have collectively preserved more than 55,000 acres.
For more information go to www.agri.ohio.gov/divs/FarmLand/.
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