As the Indiana General Assembly wrapped up the legislative session back on March 8th, a longtime friend of the Indiana agriculture community wrapped up his 26th and final year at the Statehouse.
“Agriculture is in my roots,” says Republican Representative Bob Cherry. “I grew up on a farm. In fact, I still reside on that same farm where I grew up.”
Cherry has represented portions of Hancock and Madison Counties in District 53 since 1998.
Cherry reflected on his time at the Statehouse with HAT last month, saying his biggest accomplishment for agriculture was when he helped revamp the property tax system in Indiana because farmers were paying too much on a per acre basis.
“We changed that a few years ago, which was a big win for Indiana farmers. Also, one of the small things I did, which means a lot, we had the ‘save the barn’ thing where if it’s a pin barn versus a pole barn that was built more than 50 years ago, prior to 1950 really, they were taken off their property tax rolls. These older barns in our state, many were falling down, and they couldn’t be used for modern agriculture today, but the landscape of our rural areas was very important. So, we removed that from the property taxes, and that was a big way to save some barns. Other states have done this, and I felt it was important for the Indiana landscape to preserve those heritage barns.”
Cherry says he’s looking forward to helping his nephews farm the ground around his childhood home, calling it stress relief for him to get out and drive the tractor.
