A bill was signed into law Thursday that directs the Indiana State Department of Agriculture to inventory farmland that’s been lost to new homes, industries and commercial developments over the last 12 years.
According to House Bill 1557, the report will be released no later than July 1, 2024, and will define all farmland in Indiana that’s been lost from 2012 to 2022 and detail what the land is being used for now.
Andy Tauer, Executive Director of Public Policy for the Indiana Farm Bureau, said the bill will help give Hoosiers the big picture of how farmland is being used.
“As we've seen with COVID and supply chain challenges, that could put us in a real bind if we're dependent on other entities to feed our population,” he said. “So, it's really just a mechanism for us to get that macro-level picture of Indiana; Where are we today in terms of productive farmland?”
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The bill was an iteration of another bill that was focused squarely on inventorying land that switched to renewable energy use.
Tauer said the bill isn’t just important to those in agriculture. As land is switched from farmland to other uses, that changes how the property is taxed and can affect cities and townships.
“Not only is it very important for our farmers in Indiana, but also very important for our rural communities as we think about the rural vitality of those individual communities,” he said. “And how do we continue to make sure we have the best balance to have a robust agriculture industry that is towards the top in terms of GDP for the state as well as supporting those rural communities?”
The bill has a companion piece of legislation, House Bill 1132, that would create a land use task force once the report is concluded. That bill has passed the House and Senate and is on its way to Governor Holcomb’s desk for his signature.
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