COLUMBUS, Ohio — After reviewing and scoring landowners’ applications for the 10th funding round of the Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (AEPP), the Farmland Preservation Advisory Board has recommended 41 farms for funding to Ohio Agriculture Director Jim Zehringer.

“The state purchases the future development rights from the landowners and these landowners receive money from the Clean Ohio Fund for purchasing the future development rights for that land,” said Jessica Pitchford, Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) public information officer.

A total of $6.4 million from the Clean Ohio Fund will be used to buy agriculture easements on these farms to preserve them in perpetuity. The AEPP is the farmland preservation component of the Clean Ohio initiative to protect rural “greenfields” and reclaim Brownfields.

The Clean Ohio Fund was originally approved by state voters in 2000 and supported at the ballot box for continuation in 2008. A total of $25 million from the $400 million Clean Ohio Fund is dedicated to preserving farmland by purchasing agricultural easements on farms.

An agricultural easement is a legal property interest that dedicates land to agricultural uses. A landowner who enters into an agricultural easement agreement with an “easement holder” agrees to use the land predominantly for that purpose, and forfeits the right to develop the land for other purposes.

“A landowner will enter an agricultural easement for several reasons,” Pitchford said. “For some it is to protect the land in its agricultural state. Others may want to ensure long-term viability of the farm operation, or to help create a region dedicated to agriculture, or perhaps to receive tax benefits or a payment for the easement.”

This year the ODA’s Office of Farmland Preservation received 190 applications from 35 counties competing for the limited money available through the Clean Ohio Fund. Applicants had the opportunity to earn up to 150 points based on a two-tiered scoring system.

Section One of the application focused on development pressure, soils, proximity to other agriculture land, use of best management practices and local comprehensive land-use plans. Section Two included narrative questions regarding the farm and its unique appeal to the Agricultural Easement Purchase Program.

“We try to spread the allotment across the state,” Pitchford said. “Certainly there are more counties more familiar with the program than others. We’re trying to make sure we’re reaching out in other areas.”

Can a landowner donate an agricultural easement? “Absolutely,” Pitchford said.

A landowner maintains ownership rights to the land, and may sell it at any time; however, the new landowner will be bound by the agricultural easement, and cannot develop the land for non-agricultural purposes. 

In addition, the easement does not open the land to members of the public for hiking, picnicking or any other public uses. The landowner maintains the right to keep uninvited guess off the property.

In 2001 Mercer County received the first funding. Forty-one farms in 22 of Ohio’s 88 counties benefited from this program. Ashland County had 593 acres preserved and Sandusky County had 562 acres preserved. Preble County, which borders Indiana, had 206 acres preserved.