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Every year, America loses 1.2 million acres of farmland, much of it our best and most productive farmland near where most Americans live. Nearly 45,000 acres of farmland per year are converted to development in Ohio.
Project Update
American Farmland Trust (AFT) Board of Directors’ member, Stephen Stranahan, sponsored a free giveaway at the Perrysburg Farmers’ Market. Five hundred lucky customers received free AFT reusable “No Farms No Food®” shopping totes!
For more information, see the press release.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, the Ohio Corn Growers Association, and American Farmland Trust for a day long summit on agriculture and clean energy.
Attendees learned more about how proposed clean energy legislation will impact agriculture in Ohio. USDA representatives, agriculture professionals, and economists presented opportunities for Ohio's farmers in clean energy legislation and answered attendees questions.
Update! For the most recent information and resources on climate change legislation and agriculture, visit the webpage for our national webinar, Opportunities for Agriculture in the Clean Energy Partnership Act .
After food and fiber, farmers in the Ohio River Basin now have another potential source of revenue: using their land to improve the health of local waterways. American Farmland Trust and a large group of partners established the first ever multi-state water quality trading market stretching across the Ohio River Basin. Our role in the project will be to help farmers with cost-effective production practices that will create a healthier Ohio River Basin, reduce hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico, and maintain farmers economic viability by providing a new source of income.
“We’re ecstatic to provide leadership from the agriculture and conservation sector to this cutting edge project. We believe such projects will become the norm in years to come as our country seeks solutions to some of our toughest environmental challenges.” — AFT President Jon Scholl
Read more about the Ohio River Basin Water Quality Trading Project.
After an action packed road to election day the suspense is over. Nearly 70% of Ohio's voters followed in the footsteps of the bi-partisan champions of Issue 2, and secured the Clean Ohio Bond Fund. The Clean Ohio Bond offers great promise to farmland protection and the environment. By preserving farmland, protecting green space, cleaning up urban brownfields, and providing recreational trails the bond will ensure a bright future for Ohio--all without raising taxes.
AFT was instrumental in the creation of the Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program. Since its inception in 2000 the Clean Ohio program has made an impressive impact on Buckeye farms [PDF] .
Focus on Ohio
An American Farmland Trust study helped inspire a public radio report on the effects of sprawl and farmland loss in Northeast Ohio. Our updated Cost of Community Services study for Madison Village and Madison Township in Lake County showed that new subdivisions typically do not provide enough tax revenue to support the public services they require—whereas farmland pays more in taxes than it costs in services. Specifically, residential development in the township required $1.24 in public services for every $1 those homes paid in taxes, while farm and forest land required only 37 cents in services for every dollar in taxes. WCPN Radio in Cleveland used the studies as the foundation for their news report on development patterns in the Cleveland metropolitan area.
The Ohio Agricultural Landowners Guide[PDF] is available to farmers who want to conserve and protect their land. The 16-page full-color guide summarizes a full range of federal conservation programs, state farmland preservation options and assorted local initiatives.
The guide includes case studies of ideas and efforts that have been effective: innovative zoning in Clark County, active land trusts around the state and entrepreneurial farm marketing in Wayne County, where the Hartzler family opened the first new dairy processing plant in Ohio in decades.
The Ohio guide is the sixth such publication produced by AFT to assist farmers and landowners. The others are for Kentucky, South Carolina, Connecticut, New York and the Rocky Mountain states.
FederAl Farm Policy and The farm bill
What’s in the farm bill and why is it important? Find out what’s next for the farm bill and how we can make sure the legislation's promises are turned into programs on the ground.
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