REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Office of Farmland Preservation has invited the Soil & Water Conservation District, land trusts, and city, township, and county entities to apply for local sponsor certification. Applications will be accepted until Oct. 13.
Local sponsors that apply and qualify will be issued a portion of the funding available in the Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program 2024 funds. These funds are used to purchase agricultural easements on Ohio farms, in order to permanently preserve agricultural farmland.
After qualifying, certified local sponsors will accept landowner applications and help them secure easements through ODA’s Local Agricultural Easement Purchase Program. Once acquired, the local sponsor will visit the farm once a year and complete a monitoring report to verify the land is being used for agricultural purposes.
The application is available to interested parties on ODA’s local sponsor page. Organizations interested in being a local sponsor for the 2024 landowner application year must also apply during the application time period. For more information contact the Farmland Preservation Office at 614-728-6238 or farmlandpres@agri.ohio.gov.
