Land for the Future...    

This section offers news and information about land protection efforts across Northeast Ohio, the state and country. You will find information on new state policies that have direct or indirect impacts on protecting the land that feeds us as well as local articles about people and communities that are doing what they can to protect working farms.

Do you love good wine? Seeing beautiful Northeast Ohio Vineyards?  How about giving one for the grape?

One for the grape is a locally generated and controlled fund sustained by winery patron donations, by grants and federal and state programs to promote agricultural land preservation & viticulture sustainability in Ashtabula, Geauga, and Lake Counties.

Visit www.oneforthegrape.com for more

information

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Lorain County gets first ever AEPP easement!!

The Babcock family farm in Lorain county will be permanently preserved through the state of Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program.  Read more about the protection of this 900+ acre farm in Lorain County here.

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Ohio Center for Farmland Policy Innovation releases new resources

Zoning in Support of Agriculture in Ohio: What are the Options?

Agri-Business Retention & Expansion

Learn more about the important work of CFFPI here

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FarmLink Program in the news

John Horton, writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer profiles a farmland owner and farm seeker as part of an informative article about The Farmland Center's FarmLink Program.

Read :"Will work hard and get dirty" here

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Its not Farmland without the Farmer!

As the land values in Northeast Ohio continue to climb, the affordability of land for farmers becomes further out of reach.  Even with an easement, property often sells for values well beyond levels that farming can support. .

Vist Equity Trust to learn more about options to keep farmland affordable for farmers or to order their educational DVD:
"Farmland and Farmers for the Future: Beyond Conservation Easements".

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Learn More about Farmland Preservation Success in Ohio

and how to fund Farmland Protection

The Ohio Center for Farmland Policy Innovation has two valuable resources now available. 

Farmland Preservation Successes: Stories from across Ohio,is a brief paper describing the farm policy innovation that is happening across the state- including in Northeast Ohio.

Farmland Protection Funding Options: This paper examines the legally available and potential future funding tools for Ohio's local governments.

To access these resources and more visit the Ohio Center for Farmland Policy Innovation.

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Farmland Conservation’s East Coast Pioneers

This article by Keith Schneider (Great Lakes Bulletin News Service) gives a "state of the state" for farmland preservation efforts across the country. Whether it is agricultural zoning, PDR,TDR or economic development many communities around the country are planning for a future that includes agriculture.

Read more

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Congress passes expanded tax deduction!!

The new law:

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  Raises the deduction a landowner can take for donating a conservation easement from 30% of their income in any year to 50%;
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  Allows qualifying farmers and ranchers to deduct up to 100% of their income; and
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  Increases the number of years over which a donor can take those deductions from 6 years to 16 years.

This will only be in effect for 2006 and 2007 unless the law is extended.

Read the full update from the Land Trust Alliance here

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FSA - Saving Family Farms by Funding Organic Farmers

This article from The New Farm, shares the story of a Wisconsin Farm that has been able to create a diversified farm business with funding from the county Farm Service Agency.  The Varneys from One Sun Farm left their off-farm jobs to invest full time in their farm. Read their story at The New Farm

Clean Ohio ListServ now online !!

Be part of this ongoing discussion as we look back at the success of the Clean Ohio program and plan ahead to a new, bigger and better program in 2008!

Follow this link to join the discussion or to learn more

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Tecumseh Land Trust uses innovative way to fund farmland protection This program by TLT, local businesses and residents donates 1% of purchases on a voluntary basis) to farmland protection (and more) Read more..

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Center for Farmland Policy Innovation

New Center established at Ohio State University with the goal of helping local governments achieve their farmland preservation priorities by partnering on innovative demonstration projects.  The Center is currently taking letters of interest for projects they will support.

Visit their website here

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Are you interesting in starting to farm?  or need capital to diversify??

The Ohio Department of Agriculture, through the Ohio Rural Development Partnership, administers a family farm loan guarantee program.  This program helps farmers secure low interest loans to start or expand their farm operation.

Download the program desciption here

or call the Ohio Department of Agriculture at (614) 995-1490

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New!! Ohio Land Trust Directory Looking for a private land conservation agency to meet your farm conservation goals?  This new directory lists all Land Trusts and resource agencies in Ohio Download the directory here

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Transfer of Development Rights introduced into state legislature

This long awaited bill was introduced into the Ohio House of Representatives on January 31st.  TDR programs hold great potential to preserve viable farmland in Ohio.  These programs would be locally implemented and work with the development community to transfer potential development from farms into villages and cities. To review the legislation in its current form link to HB 492.

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Transfer of Development Rights Might Save Land...

This article from the Colmbus Dispatch discusses upcoming TDR legislation.  This new tool holds promise for conserving farmland and compensating farmers for their land values.

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Lorain County Farmer Jim McConnell shares an innovative city/township approach to maintaining rural farmland in Northeast Ohio in this informative article from the National Association of Realtors Common Ground Publication.

And what does this mean for urban communities? “Preservation of the agricultural economy and the revitalization of existing communities are two answers to the same equation,” According to former governor Paris Glendening

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Fred Maier, developer of the "Save a farm" Campaign has been selected by Ohio Magazine as an Ohio Hero in this month's issue of Ohio Magazine (See ohiomagazine.com).  Fred developed a series of jingles that are featured on signs adorning Portage County thoroughfares.  The campaign has also moved north to Ashtabula County at the South River Vineyard.  To learn more visit http://www.saveafarm.org/

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Review the results of the 2005 Agricultural Easement Purchase Program Download the pdf from The Ohio Department of Agriculture

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The Congressional Budget Office finds that the estate tax is not a burden to farmers, Corporate attempt to patent gene processes in pigs and tips on how to find affordable land.  Visit the Center for Rural Affairs to read these informative articles.

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The Ohio Department of Agriculture, Office of Farmland Preservation has developed guidelines for the newly established tool- Agriculture Security Areas.  Visit the ODA website for all of the specifics.

"The most political act we do on a daily basis is to eat, as our actions affect farms, landscapes and food businesses," said co-author Professor Jules Pretty, from the University of Essex,UK,   Find out more...

  What can towns and counties do to support small and mid-sized farms? Judith LaBelle of the Glynwood Center talks about what her organization has learned about effective farmland protection from years of working with municipal and county governments—where most of the real decisions are made.
www.newfarm.org/features/0904/glynwood/index.shtml