Bauer: We must preserve Indiana’s farmland
State Rep. B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) authored legislation that prompted the Interim Study Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources to study the preservation of farmland in Indiana through agriculture conservation easements.
HB 1165 would direct the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) to create a program that would let farmers preserve their agricultural land and keep it from being developed into a subdivision or for industrial use.
“While economic development is good, we shouldn’t be taking away acres of farmland to support these types of projects,” Bauer said.
“We are one of the top three states for farming and agriculture in the country — we need to preserve and use the fertile ground we have,” he continued.
“These easements could provide farmers the means to remain on their land and continue farming in the face of the expansion of cities, towns, and developments in our state’s rural agricultural areas.”
According to the American Farmland Trust, more than 500,000 acres of farmland in the Indiana was developed over the past 30 years.
HB 1165 would create a new nonreverting Agricultural Conservation Easement Fund that would be administered by the ISDA. This ISDA administered Agricultural Conservation Easement Fund, in conjunction with federal and local government programs, would be used to purchase agricultural easements for perpetuity, which in essence are the development rights for the properties in question.
Landowners would willingly have the option to apply for the establishment of an agricultural easement through this fund, but cannot be compelled to do so. Once an agricultural easement has been established, it remains for perpetuity. Further, the easement survives even if the property is sold or transferred. Finally, property owners subject to an agricultural conservation easement may experience a property tax reduction since properties shall be assessed and taxed on a basis that reflects the existence of the easement instead of the simple market rate.