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Want an Ohio ag easement? Feb. 6 workshop has pointers

By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

OXFORD, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Agriculture has announced that its Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (AEPP) 2010 application process has opened, and the application deadline is April 26.

To help landowners through the process, the Three Valley Conservation Trust (TVCT) is hosting a hands-on workshop on how to apply for the Ohio AEPP on Feb. 6, from 9a.m.-1p.m. at the TVCT office, located at 5920 Morning Sun Road in Oxford.

“We will walk people through the process of filling out the application and answer questions,” said Larry Frimerman, executive director of the TVCT. “No doubt there will be questions with respect to when are you ‘locked in,’ at what point can you say ‘no?’
“We also literally help people fill in online application drafts. We will help them think through who else around them might be interested in applying.”

This program focuses on creating clusters of protected farmland, because that is what is needed for preservation of farm infrastructure – a critical mass of agricultural land and farmers, he said. Also, the scoring system relies on clusters of applicants, Frimerman added.

It is that clustering that has enabled TVCT and other land trusts to be so successful in this program. The TVCT has had 22 farms accepted in the program in past years and expects to have two or three accepted this year.

The workshop will help landowners determine if it makes sense for them to consider pursuing this program, or other potential funding routes for protecting their farm through the state’s farmland preservation program. Frimerman suggested that farmers also may wish to do the following as a part of the application process:

•Contact their local Soil and Water Conservation Districts and bring their farm and soils maps to give the districts time to calculate the soils scores.

•Establish Whole Farm Conservation Plans or Multiple Resource Plans through the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service office, to increase scoring.

•Register to be in an Agricultural District at the county auditor’s office.

•Find out about, or apply for, the Ohio Historic Inventory, Ohio Century Farm and/or another program to recognize the historic character of their farm.

•Contact neighbors to see if they may be willing to submit applications as a part of a bloc of applications. This is advantageous to each of the farmers involved – the larger the block, the higher the score.

•Work closely with the TVCT, which will complete the application on the landowner’s behalf.

•Consider participating in an Agricultural Security Area through local government.

The TVCT is a nonprofit membership-based land trust organization that works with people and communities to conserve the natural environment and the area’s cultural heritage. The TVCT annually monitors conservation easements to ensure that the donors’ and the public’s conservation values are forever protected.

As a Designated Local Sponsor to apply for the program, the TVCT provides information on the AEPP, as well as on possible tax benefits for preserving family lands, the Federal Farm & Ranch Lands Protection Program and other land conservation programs.
For more information on Saturday’s workshop, contact TVCT at 513-524-2150 or visit www.3vct.org

2/4/2010