Wayne County Planning Dept. Clean Ohio AEPP Program

Wayne County Planning Dept.
Clean Ohio AEPP Program

Applications for the 2010 Clean Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program (AEPP) are open and available in the Wayne County Planning Department or online at www.agri.ohio.gov/farmland.

This year there will be $6.25 million to distribute to Ohio Farmers to protect their farmland. Farmland preservation efforts ensure that agriculture remains a viable industry in our state. Farmland is the foundation of Ohio's $98 billion food and agriculture industry and the Clean Ohio funds, which were supported by voters in every Ohio county in 2008, are one tool for protecting Ohio's agricultural future. The Clean Ohio AEPP utilizes the agricultural easement, a voluntary and legally binding restriction placed on a farm, to ensure the land stays in agriculutre. This easement limits the use of the land to predominantly agricultural activity. The land still remains under private ownership and management and stays on the tax rolls under Current Agricultural Use Valuation (CAUV) and the farm can be sold or passed along as a gift to others at any time, yet the restriction prohibiting non-agricultural development stays with the land.
Farmer's and landowners interested in applying for this year's OAEPP should contact the Wayne County Planning Department at 330-287-5420.

Applications must reach the Ohio Department of Agriculture by April 26. The Wayne County deadline for submitted applications is April 19.