House panel advances bill to let landowners donate farmland conservation easements

Representative Culp presented House Bill 1234 to the Indiana House Agriculture Committee and the committee moved the bill forward on a voice vote after testimony from conservation and farm groups.

Supporters described HB1234 as a voluntary framework that would allow farmland owners to donate or bequeath agricultural conservation easements to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) or to local land trusts, and would make those easements eligible to leverage federal funds.

"This bill creates a framework for willing farmland owners to donate their conservation easements," Representative Culp said in his opening remarks, noting he had worked on farmland protection recommendations since the 1990s. "There's no state funding associated with this. We're not asking for an appropriation to purchase those easements."

Chris Reynolds, Midwest regional director for American Farmland Trust, told the committee HB1234 "lays the vital groundwork to give farmers and landowners the option to protect their land for future generations" and said Indiana would join other states with similar programs. "This bill…