By: Carly Hamilton, Public Affairs Specialist

Michael Loudon’s family farm has been a staple in the Harrison County community for more than 200 years, and Michael is carrying on his father’s dream of keeping the property farmland. 

Loudon Farms has been growing in Indiana for more than 100 years – founded by the Loudon family in 1813. On 154 acres of prime farmland in Southern Indiana, the Loudon family has been working to feed the Midwest for generations,  and they intend to keep it that way. “As a kid, I couldn’t wait to put hay on the wagon,” said Loudon.

Protecting their land has been the family’s dream for generations, with Michael’s father, CJ, serving on the Harrison County Conservation board before his passing. “I saw there was an informational meeting [on easements] and thought, ‘Oh, that’s what dad was into!’ I had no idea he was a board member when I went to the meeting,” said Loudon. The George Rogers Clark Land Trust, originally the Clarks Valley Land Trust, was born through the Clark County Soil and Water Conservation District’s Land Use and Community Development Committee, where Founder and President Pat Larr served as the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) District Conservationist. The committee works to identify issues concerning farmland throughout the community with its input, and “one of the big issues identified was conversion of farmland,” explained Larr. “Clark County is right across the river from Louisville, opening it up to development.”

The Agricultural Land Easement, part of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP-ALE), is administered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). ACEP-ALE works to prevent conversion of working agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses, like housing developments and shopping centers . With the collaboration of land trusts, landowners can ease the financial burden of implementing an easement on their farm ground. Agricultural land easements are permanent, ensuring that productive farmland remains in use until the end of time. 

The loss of agricultural land to development is rapidly accelerating across the United States. In Indiana alone, between 2010 and 2022, more than 28,000 acres of farmland were lost according to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s Inventory of Lost Farmland, primarily to residential and industrial uses. Nationwide, more than 20 million acres of farmland were lost from 2017 to 2022 – a total reduction of 2% - according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture. The rapid loss of farmland has consequences, from families losing their livelihoods to potential shortages of the important commodities that feed, fuel and clothe the American people. ACEP-ALE is a vital tool in the conservation toolbox, offering farmers the opportunity to fight farmland loss head-on.

One of the main hurdles to protecting land through ACEP-ALE is the financial aspect. “For most people that are even working off the farm, outside of their daily expenses and the mortgage on their house, [their money] is going right back into the land, its equipment, its livestock, you name it,” Loudon explained. “They don’t have the capital leftover to make [an easement] happen.” But that’s where land trusts can help. 

Land trusts like the George Rogers Clark Land Trust are vital to protecting farmland and providing resources, finances, and support to landowners who want to keep their land in agricultural use . In combination with the Conservation Law Center and other entities equipped to manage the legal side of an easement, landowners can finally access the resources needed to preserve their land. Without access to land trusts, many landowners find it unfeasible to achieve their farmland protection goals.

Agricultural Land Easements are an important part of the conservation puzzle in Indiana. As development continues throughout the state, protecting productive farmland is vital to the economy and culture of the Hoosier state. “Agricultural Land Easements are a valuable tool to protect the future of Indiana’s agriculture from development pressure and conversion to non-agricultural land uses,” explained Cindy Suseland, Conservation Program Specialist for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Indiana. “ACEP-ALE allows us to preserve the past while protecting the future.”