REYNOLDSBURG — The Ohio Department of Agriculture has announced the approval for local sponsors to purchase agricultural easements on family farms in Auglaize and 35 other Ohio counties.
Local sponsoring organizations — land trusts, counties, townships and soil and water conservation districts — receive funding from the Clean Ohio Fund to manage the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program. The easements ensure farms remain permanently in agricultural production.
The latest ODA announcement approves easements for 58 family farms and represents 5,165 acres. To be eligible for the program, farms must be larger than 40 acres or next to a preserved farm, actively engaged in farming, participate in the Current Agricultural Use Value program, demonstrate good stewardship of the land and not be in close proximity to development.
For more information about farmland preservation in Ohio visit agri.ohio.gov/farmland-preservation.
