Farm preservation funds in demand

The program bases funding on what a developer might pay for the land.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Interest in a state program designed to stem urban sprawl and protect agriculture is far exceeding the money available to fund it.
"It's been a great success so far," said Melanie Wilt, spokeswoman for the Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program. "It's a shame we can't purchase more easements and go further down that list."
The program pays farmers the difference between what their land is worth if it is farmed and what a developer might pay for it. In return, landowners agreed to a deed restriction that requires the property to be used for agriculture.
Every year since the program began in 2002, farmers have applied for more money than the $3.1 million that has been available.
Last year, nearly 300 applicants sought $69.5 million to guarantee their 48,550 acres would remain farmland. This year, 271 applications worth $56.1 million were filed.
Judges pick which farms are protected by ranking farmland on soil type, historic value, proximity to other protected land and other criteria.
"It takes local commitment and local excitement about the program to get a commitment from local farmers," Wilt said. "It kind of takes a grass-roots effort to get this done."
Fifty acres is the minimum required to be eligible for the preservation program, so few applications come from metropolitan counties.
Sources of funding
A $400 million Clean Ohio Fund, a statewide bond issue voters approved in 2000, includes $25 million for preserving farmland until the money runs out. Federal funding provides some money.
The amount of farmland in Ohio has declined from 16 million acres in 1982 to 14.7 million in 2002.
Nancy and Darrell Myers are among the farm families set to receive a check from the 2003 funding round the controlling board is set to approve.
They will receive $898,718 to preserve their Shady Maple Farms, where they grow corn, soybeans and wheat. Nancy Myers grew up on the 400-acre spread near Rushville in Fairfield County, southeast of Columbus.
She said the family could have received more from a developer in the rapidly growing county.
"We want to preserve our farm, and this has helped us to do that," she said. "We're not going to have farmland before too long. It's all going to be gone."
Among the 14 top-ranked farms in 2004, six are in Clark County, aided by the Tecumseh Land Trust. The private organization works to preserve farmland in Clark and Greene counties, and aggressively promotes the state program to farmers there.
Joe Steiger, a soil scientist with the Fairfield County Soil & amp; Water Conservation District, would like the county to be as successful as Clark County in saving farmland. The county's land-use plan calls for preserving half of the current farmland.
"I'm trying to figure out how we can do better next year," he said. "In the long run, hopefully we'll have a lot more farms preserved."