House panel advances bill to let Hoosier landowners donate agricultural conservation easements

Representative Culp, the bill sponsor, told the House Agriculture Committee that House Bill 1234 would create a program to allow willing farmland owners to donate or bequeath conservation easements to protect agricultural land for future food production.

The bill "creates a framework for willing farmland owners to donate their conservation easements," Representative Culp said, adding the program would not request state funding to purchase easements but would make landowners eligible to apply for federal funds.

The measure drew wide support from agricultural and conservation groups during a committee hearing. Chris Reynolds, Midwest regional director for American Farmland Trust, said HB 1234 would join Indiana with other states that use conservation easements to slow farmland loss. "This bill lays the vital groundwork to give farmers and landowners the option to protect their land for future generations," Reynolds said.

Caitlin Smith of the Indiana Farm Bureau also testified in support, saying the proposal gives farmers "another tool in the toolbox" for succession and protection of productive land. Toby Day, sustainable agriculture director for the Hoosier Environmental Council, said easements reduce the price of land for beginning farmers by removing development rights and would support farm succession.

Quentin Hayes, legislative director for the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, said the department released an inventory in July 2023 showing roughly 345,000 acres of farmland lost from 2010 to 2022 and described ISDA's potential role in implementing the program. "If House Bill 1234 were enacted, ISDA would be responsible for implementing the conservation easement program in coordination with the newly created protection board," Hayes said, adding ISDA would need additional staffing and resources to carry out that role.

Witnesses and farmers told the committee that the program is intended to be voluntary. David Harden, a sixth-generation farmer, said a donated easement could help keep farms in agricultural use and aid estate planning for families where only some children intend to farm.

Committee members raised questions about governance and funding. Representative Bartlett asked that the membership of the proposed protection board not all be from a single political party; Representative Culp said he would be open to that change. Hayes and other witnesses clarified the bill creates a framework and does not include a required appropriation, though ISDA said it would need resources if it were to hold and manage easements directly.

The committee voted to pass the bill as amended. Representative Brad Barrett moved to pass the bill; the motion passed on a recorded vote with eight members voting yes and two voting no.

The bill now moves to further readings where members indicated changes to board makeup and technical language could be made.