Panel advances bill letting Hoosier landowners donate agricultural conservation easements

Representative Culp introduced House Bill 1234 to the House Agriculture Committee, saying, "This bill creates 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." The committee voted to pass the bill as amended at the hearing.

The measure would establish an agricultural land protection program that accepts donations or bequests of conservation easements and creates an Ag Conservation Easement Fund to help landowners leverage federal, local and philanthropic dollars. Chris Reynolds, Midwest regional director for American Farmland Trust, testified in support and said the bill "lays the vital groundwork to give farmers and landowners the option to protect their land for future generations." Reynolds noted that 29 other states have similar programs and said Indiana’s 2023…