COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio House recently passed House Bill 95, the Family Farm Regeneration Act, with one dissenting vote. This legislation can smooth the way for the next generation of Ohio farmers and provide resilience for the state’s food system.

H.B.95 would authorize tax credits for those who sell or rent farmland, livestock, buildings or equipment to beginning farmers, said Amalie Lipstreu, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Associations’s (OEFFA) policy director. It also provides a credit for beginning farmers who attend a financial management program. The bill is modeled from bills that have been passed in other states, including Minnesota.

“In having conversations with the folks in Minnesota, a little more than a year after that bill had passed they had processed applications for more than 400 landowners and 400 land seekers,” Lipstreu said. “So this has proven to be a pretty successful model for making connections and incentivizing that transition of land between older generations and next-generation farmers.”

Reps. Susan Manchester (R-84) and Mary Lightbody (D-19) sponsored the legislation in the House. During her floor speech, Manchester noted that the average age of U.S. farmers is 58.

“By decreasing their tax burden, House Bill 95 incentivizes retiring farmers to recruit beginning farmers to take over their operations,” Manchester said. “This program also sets beginning farmers up for success by giving them an opportunity to learn more about the financial management of a farm operation.”

The challenges facing young farmers might seem overwhelming, Lightbody said.

“This bill creates a pilot program to help with the transition from older farmers who wish to retire but want to transition their farm to young Ohioans who wish to get started as farmers,” Lightbody said. “Today’s bipartisan vote demonstrates our shared commitment to Ohio’s farmers. I hope that the bill will move expeditiously through the Senate and on to the governor’s desk this time so farmers in the near future will benefit from the opportunity.”

OEFFA feels confident the bill will pass, Lipstreu said. It has overwhelming support from farming organizations in Ohio, commodity groups and financial institutions.

“We’ve been pushing the idea for this kind of tax credit for about three years now,” she said. “One thing that is positive is that we’re sixth in the nation in the number of beginning farmers.”

OEFFA is in its fourth year of a USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program grant, Lipstreu said. The organization provides business planning for existing beginning farmers as well as a host of other educational beginning farmer programs and resources.

“We see first-hand the challenges that these beginning farmers face as they are trying to get started,” she explained. “Access to and secure tenure on affordable high-quality farmland is the no. 1 challenge young farmers are facing.”

H.B. 95 passed the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee with a unanimous vote. The Ohio Farm Bureau, OEFFA, Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association and Ohio Soybean Association also support the bill.