Twenty-five organizations will receive funding to preserve
farmland, according to a recent Ohio Department of Agriculture announcement.
The sponsor
organizations that will handle the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program
(LAEPP) will receive a total of $8 million from the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund.
The 11 districts, nine land trusts,
four counties and one township will select the agricultural easements from this
year's applicants. Landowners interested in selling an easement to their
property should contact the local sponsor in their county.
The LAEPP program has several requirements. The farm must
remain permanently in agricultural production, be 40 acres or more, be part
of the Current Agricultural Use Valuation program and not be in the way of
development. The local government must support the easement. In addition, the
farmer must be actively farming the land and be a good steward of the property.
Voters approved the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund in 2008. Since
its inception, the program has preserved more than 63,000 acres from 380 family
farms in 55 counties.
Proceeds of the sale of the easement have no restrictions;
the farmer can use it for anything. Most farmers put the funds back into their
operations.
Ohio announces 2017 Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program funding
