Committee advances bill allowing Hoosier landowners to donate agricultural conservation easements

The House Agriculture Committee voted to advance House Bill 1234, which would create a voluntary framework for farmland owners to donate or bequeath agricultural conservation easements to preserve land for farming.

Representative Culp, the bill’s author, told the committee the measure would “create a framework for willing farmland owners to donate their conservation easements, if they choose to protect their farms for future generations to utilize to grow food.” He said the bill does not include state funding to purchase easements but would allow owners to qualify for federal matching dollars.

That testimony was supported by Chris Reynolds, Midwest regional director for American Farmland Trust, who said the bill would enable Indiana to join roughly 29 other states that have programs to stabilize agricultural land. “This bill lays the vital groundwork to give farmers and…