REYNOLDSBURG – The Ohio Department of Agriculture has announced approval for local sponsors to purchase
agricultural easements in 21 counties.
Wood County is not currently listed.
Local sponsoring organizations, who include land trusts, counties and local Soil and Water Conservation
Districts, receive funding from the Clean Ohio Fund to manage the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase
Program (LAEPP). The easement purchases will ensure farms remain permanently in agricultural production,
while continuing under private ownership.
To be eligible for the program, farms must be larger than 40 acres, actively engaged in farming,
participate in the Current Agricultural Use Valuation program, demonstrate good stewardship of the land,
have support from local government and not be in close proximity to development. Landowners may use the
proceeds of the easement in any way they wish, but most reinvest it in their farm operation.
Funding for the state’s farmland preservation efforts is derived from the Clean Ohio Conservation Fund,
approved by voters in 2008, and used to purchase agricultural easements from willing sellers through a
competitive process. Since the program began, 315 family farms in 54 counties have collectively
preserved 54,212 acres in agricultural production.