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Farmland preservation meeting
Black Swamp Conservancy will host an informational meeting about farmland preservation Feb. 3 at 5:30 p.m. at the W. W. Knight Preserve, 29530 White Rd., near the corner of White and East River roads (SR 65) in Perrysburg. The meeting is open to anyone who owns farmland in northwest Ohio.
Representatives from the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Office of Farmland Preservation will present information about the Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (AEPP), which provides funding for landowners who agree to limit the use of their farmland to agricultural uses only.
The AEPP program is operated by the Department of Agriculture. A farmland owner sells his development rights through a legal document known as an agricultural conservation easement, a three-party voluntary land conservation agreement of the landowner, the Department of Agriculture, and the conservancy. The agreements require that the current owner and all future owners of the property use the land mostly for farming, in perpetuity.
Farmland owners interested in the AEPP program can only apply for the funding if they have a sponsor such as Black Swamp Conservancy.
Along with representatives from the Department of Agriculture, a farmland owner who has been through the AEPP process will be on hand to answer questions. The conservancy’s executive director, Kevin Joyce, will also give a brief presentation on the federal income tax incentives associated with conservation easement donations, which are particularly attractive for people who generate more than half of their income from agriculture.
For more information about the meeting, call Rob Krain at 419-872-5263. More information about the conservancy is available at www.blackswamp.org. The Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Office of Farmland Preservation is available online at www.agri.ohio.gov/farmland/.
Ag breakfast set
To celebrate agriculture and honor local producers, agricultural agencies and sponsors are celebrating National Agriculture Week by hosting an Agriculture Community Breakfast March 20 at 8 a.m. at St John Lutheran Church in Oak Harbor.
Dr. Bobby Moser, of the Ohio State University, will be the featured speaker. The cost for the all-you-can-eat scrambled egg, pancake and ham breakfast is $5. Proceeds from the breakfast go back into the agricultural community through various scholarships. The college scholarships will be awarded on the 20th (at the breakfast). For more information about our scholarship, please call Kathy Booher at 419-898-3631. For tickets please contact the Ottawa Soil and Water Conservation District (419) 898-1595.
FFA elects officers
The Oak Harbor-Penta-FFA Chapter recently completed its annual FFA officer selection process. The newly elected officers include Dustin Brough, president; Tyler Kitzler, vice president; Bret Braun, secretary; Travis Meek, treasurer; Brittany Biggert, reporter; Kyle Wendt, sentinel; Rob Shelton, student advisor; and Walter Adeler, farm manager.
The newly elected officers will be sworn in at the annual Parent - Member banquet Feb. 12 at Oak Harbor High School.
Advisors for the chapter are Louis Damschroder, Mark Starkey and Noah Neiderhouse
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