House committee advances bill to accept donated farmland conservation easements

Representative Culp introduced House Bill 1234 to the Indiana House Agriculture Committee as a voluntary framework allowing farmland owners to donate or bequeath conservation easements to protect agricultural use in perpetuity. The committee voted to pass the bill as amended.

The bill would authorize the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) to accept, purchase or hold donated agricultural conservation easements and would create an Ag Conservation Easement Fund intended to leverage federal, state, local and philanthropic dollars. Supporters said the measure is intended to keep farmland in agricultural production and to help the next generation of farmers access land.

Chris Reynolds, Midwest regional director for American Farmland Trust, told the committee he “strong[ly] support[s] House Bill 1234” and said the legislation would let Indiana join other states that use easements to slow farmland conversion. He described the bill as providing “the tools to protect their land if they believe it is the right option for them.”

The bill’s text, as discussed at the hearing, includes: - A statewide framework allowing owners to donate or bequeath conservation easements without requiring a state appropriation. -…