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LANCASTER — The state controlling board granted the Fairfield County fee $302,000 to determine agricultural easements for two county farms.
McCrady Farms in Richland Township will obtain $57,159 and Wolfe’s Acres LLC in Walnut Township will obtain $245,195 to protect farmland on their properties by the Clean Ohio Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program.
Agricultural easements are utilized by the state by the Ohio Department of Agriculture to protect and dedicate land strictly for agricultural use whereas retaining personal possession and administration of the property. In different phrases, no non-agricultural industrial or non-agricultural personal considerations can use the protected land.
“As lengthy because the land is used for the definitions of agriculture by the Ohio Revised Code, these are acceptable long-term options,” Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District useful resource specialist Jonathan Furbrache stated
Furbrache stated the appliance and choice course of to obtain the state cash is very aggressive.
“It’s primarily based on the best soils,” he stated. “It’s primarily based on distance to sewer and water. Distance to different protected lands, improvement stress on many various classes.”
The complete 30 acres at McCrady Farms and your entire 133 acres at Wolfe’s Acres LLC will now be protected.
The county portion is a part of a $1.2 million fund for 9 properties in 9 Ohio counties totaling 1,076 acres.
“Agriculture is one of Ohio leading industries and plays an important role in Ohio’s economy,” Ohio Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, stated in an announcement. “This is a significant step in preserving Ohio’s farmland for agricultural use, creating jobs and defending this essential business.”
McCrady’s 30.1 acres provides to 1,551.26 acres already protected in Richland Township, a lot of it within the Little Rush Creek Valley.
Wolfe’s Acres LLC provides 133.47 acres to 1,110 acres already protected all through Walnut Township by the easement buy program.
There are round 439 further acres protected in Walnut by local land trusts as properly. Wolfe’ Acres contribution is part of an agricultural safety space initiated by the neighborhood in 2008, Furbrache stated.
The county commissioners have aided landowners in defending land by this system in Pleasant, Liberty, Greenfield, Hocking, Madison and Amanda Townships since 2002, he stated.
The Wolfe and McCrady easements put the overall of protected farmland within the county to greater than 4,000 acres.
740-304-9296
Twitter: @JeffDBarron
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