Committee hears broad support for House Bill 1234 to create farmland conservation-easement framework

House Bill 1234, a measure to establish an agricultural conservation-easement program, drew broad support from farmers, conservation groups and agricultural organizations at a hearing of the Indiana House Agriculture Committee.

The bill, introduced to the committee by Representative Culp, would create a framework for willing farmland owners to donate or bequeath conservation easements that keep land in agricultural use. “A farmland protection program will be created,” Representative Culp said in introducing the bill, describing the proposal as a voluntary tool to help landowners protect family farms for future generations.

The bill’s backers said Indiana has data showing substantial farmland loss and that HB 1234 would help landowners leverage federal and private matching funds. Chris Reynolds, Midwest regional director for American Farmland Trust, cited the Indiana inventory of lost farmland and said the bill “lays the vital groundwork to give farmers and landowners the option to protect their land for future generations.” He said the state’s lost-acreage report showed 345,000 acres lost between 2010 and 2022 and that similar state programs allow landowners to…