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Incentive Aims to Keep Ohio Family Farms Going

photo of a farm
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Older farmers would get an incentive to sell their farmland.

Ohio farmers who want to sell their property to a younger farmer in their family might soon get a tax incentive to do that. 

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would give older farmers a tax incentive when they sell their farms to younger members of the family. State Rep. Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield) says this bill will help make sure the land continues to be farmed instead of being developed for another purpose.

“We need farmers to start farming land as young people. As older people retire, we want to see young people get involved. It’s expensive and we want to keep them in the process of being farmers in Ohio.” 

The 2017 census showed the average age of an Ohio farmer is about 59 years old. 

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.