One of the oldest farms in Bartholomew County will forever be available for productive agriculture use. Evelyn Parker Chambers and Mary F. Parker have donated an agricultural conservation easement on the Parker Farm, located in Sand Creek Township, to the Sycamore Land Trust. The easement will not only save some of Indiana’s rapidly dwindling farmland, it will also help preserve Indiana’s history.

Christian Freitag, executive director of Sycamore Land Trust, announced the gift. The Parker Farm is one of the first farms in Indiana to be protected by an easement. Located only one hour from Indianapolis, Sand Creek is facing intense development pressure. Mr. Freitag said that the farm lies within an area studied by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as a possible Farm Historic District. That study stated that agriculture is probably the single most important influence on the history of Sand Creek Township, and this rich agricultural heritage continues today.

Farming is one of the main occupations in Sand Creek, and the largely intact rural character of the township is a testament to the importance of farming throughout its history. Protection of the Parker Farm with a conservation easement will help maintain the economic diversity of Bartholomew County, where agriculture contributes more than $50 million to the local economy.

The farm has been in production and in the same family since its original land grant by President James Monroe in 1822. Evelyn Parker Chambers has lived on the farm for 83 years. Her family was one of the first in the county to utilize no-till farming practices—one of the “best practice” approaches to farming that will continue under the terms of the easement. Mrs. Chambers’s son, Gary, noted that protecting the land is a matter of stewardship, and landowners cannot rely on local planning, zoning or state land-use policies to protect their property with good stewardship practices. A landowner can have and exercise the power to protect their property and their family heritage with an agricultural conservation easement.

Kent Parker, Mary Parker’s son, said of the project: "I have a deep affection for the land and lots of respect for the hard work done over the years by my forefathers. My hope is to meet them in the afterlife and when they ask how the farm is doing, I can tell them ‘It is doing well’." 

Each year more than 100,000 acres of Indiana farmland is converted to non-farm uses; this is an area equal to half of Brown County. Indiana was number 11 on the list of states losing the most farmland to such uses in the 1997-2002 period. Many states have put programs in place to help farmers stay on their land; Indiana has yet to implement such programs. Land trusts and Resource Conservation and Development Councils have stepped in to meet the need of farmers to protect the source of their livelihood. Gary Chambers said he hoped his mother and aunt's decision would encourage other farm families to consider similar steps.

A grant from the Heritage Fund-The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County assisted in paying a portion of the costs associated with establishing the easement. Brian Ingmire of the USDA's NRCS provided technical assistance.