Op-Ed: American Farmland Trust Weighs in on Lost Indiana Farmland

By: Kris Reynolds, Midwest Regional Director, American Farmland Trust

In 2020, American Farmland Trust (AFT) began a multiyear effort to map farmland loss nationwide through our Farms Under Threat research. In Indiana, the data painted a stark picture. We found that between 2001 and 2016, more than 17,000 acres of Hoosier farmland were converted each year to non-agricultural uses.

The Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s recently released inventory of lost farmland demonstrates that conversion is accelerating – with 345,000 acres of Indiana’s agricultural land lost between 2010 and 2022. This loss is cause for concern, and the increasing rate of farmland loss is cause for action.

How fast is Indiana losing farmland? 

Faster than we imagined. In 2022, AFT published new research, Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing an Abundant Future. We developed three potential scenarios and modeled farmland loss through 2040 based on historical trends of farmland conversion. Our three models are Business as Usual, Runaway Sprawl, and Better Built Cities. Under the Runaway Sprawl model, development continues to become even less efficient than Business as Usual – farmers are displaced, rural economies are disrupted, and irreplaceable resources are permanently lost.

Figure 1: Three Scenarios for the future of Indiana’s farmland. 

ISDA’s report shows that development conversion in Indiana is not Business as Usual, nor is it Runaway Sprawl. Farmland loss is happening faster – nearly 15 percent faster than our most alarming projections. Under the Business as Usual model we estimated Indiana losing a little over 18,000 acres of agricultural land annually. In the Runaway Sprawl model, we projected Indiana losing 25,000 acres annually. ISDA found that Indiana lost just shy of 29,0000 acres per year during the study period.

Food Security and Sustainable Economic Development 

American Farmland Trust’s Productivity, Versatility and Resiliency Analysis of the nation’s agricultural lands substantiates what many Hoosiers already know: Indiana is home to a disproportionate amount of the best farmland in the country. At AFT, we call this Nationally Significant agricultural land. This land is best suited to long-term, intensive crop production within the contiguous United States.

This is the farmland we need for long-term food production and security. This is the farmland that provides a competitive advantage to Indiana’s farmers. And this is the farmland that is being converted. Our research shows that nearly 71 percent of permanent conversion of Hoosier farmland happens on this irreplaceable Nationally Significant farmland.

At AFT, we encourage sustainable economic development. We understand the need for affordable housing, renewable energy development, and strong industries that support community well-being. As an agricultural organization, we understand the need for profitable farms, vibrant rural economies, and a bright future for the farm communities that provide food, fiber, and fuel for our country. Indiana’s farmland is the factory floor for an industry that generates $35 billion in annual revenue for the state. It is the backbone of essential an essential rural workforce. It is necessary for farm viability, long-term food security and sustainable economic development. And it is quickly shrinking.

Better Built Cities and Planning for Agriculture

Our Better Built Cities model imagines a future where policymakers and land use planners embrace strategies that guide sustainable economic development and plan for an abundant agricultural future. It is not just about saving farmland and protecting farmers. Our principles encourage growth that improves people’s daily lives – where businesses thrive on walkable main streets,  neighborhoods have a variety of housing types and price ranges, where there are parks and greenways for recreation, and abundant rural lands provide for strong farm economies and sustainable rural economic development.

State and local decision-makers have several tools at their disposal, but achieving the goals of Better Built Cities requires sustained and coordinated efforts. Indiana must build on its long conversations about farmland preservation and proactively plan for agriculture. To do so, we encourage officials to:

• Plan: Coordinate identification of priority agricultural resources and local comprehensive planning with statewide farmland preservation goals;
• Protect: Accelerate efforts to protect and improve the business environment for Indiana farmers through agricultural districts and voluntary, locally-led- farmland protection programs;
• Guide: Incentivize solar development on the built environment, previously disturbed, and marginal agricultural land; disincentivize solar that displaces farming from the best agricultural land; and,
• Support: Support farmland affordability for a new, diverse generation of farmers by establishing transition incentives, availing municipal and county-owned lands for agriculture and investing in robust local food systems.

Which future will Indiana choose?

In 1997, the Hoosier Farmland Preservation Task Force found the levels of farmland loss in Indiana were unsustainable and actions were taken to slow conversion. Five years later, in a followup to AFT’s original Farming on the Edge report, we found that rates were unfortunately increasing. And now, 25 years later, as the ISDA report confirms, the rate of farmland loss in Indiana continues at unsustainable levels well beyond the Runaway Sprawl model. 

If Indiana chooses an abundant agricultural future and does the difficult work of bringing together stakeholders across industries and political divides, it can protect farmers and slow the increasing loss of farmland in the state.  Indiana can tailor support through agricultural districts to improve the business environment for Hoosier farms, offer options through agricultural conservation easements for farmers to conserve their land while tapping into its equity for reinvestment in the farm or for retirement, and ensure a bright future for new generations of farmers ready to build local economies. It is difficult to create new approaches to development, but Hoosiers have come together in the past to address these issues and we believe they can do so again. We think ISDA’s report is good cause to pick up the tools that are available and get to work.

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Kris Reynolds is a fifth-generation farmer and the Midwest Regional Director of American Farmland Trust. He is a certified crop advisor with the American Society of Agronomy and holds a specialty certification from ASA as a 4R Nutrient Management Specialist.