REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Fulton County residents Robert and Carol Willson preserved two farms totaling 120.08 acres by donating agricultural easements to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
This assures the land will forever be used for agricultural purposes.
The Willson family’s Royalton Township 55.08-acre farm contains approximately 80 percent prime farmland soils, and their 65-acre farm in Amboy Township contains about 90 percent prime farmland soils. Both farms are managed under a standard rotation of corn, wheat and soybeans using no-till, conservation and conventional tillage practices.
The Fulton County Soil and Water Conservation District will monitor the Willson family’s farms annually to assure the easements are followed.
Four Fulton County farms are now preserved through donation easements, and, including Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program easements, nearly 3,700 acres of farmland are preserved in the county, including pending offers.
Agricultural easements are voluntary legal agreements restricting nonagricultural development on farmland, with the land itself remaining on the tax rolls and under private ownership and management. The easement remains with the land, prohibiting any future non-farm development.
To date, Ohio landowners have donated agricultural easements on 49 farms totaling 5999.85 acres statewide.
For more information on the department’s agricultural easement donation program, visit www.agri.ohio.gov.
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From the article,”This assures the land will forever be used for agricultural purposes.”
If you believe this, I have a bridge to sell you. Make no mistake about it, when government wants to take it, government will.