Four months after American Farmland Trust issued a report sounding the alarm over the rapid loss of farmland to development, people in farm country are still talking about the issue. In August, Indiana Prairie Farmer devoted the month’s cover story to the loss of farmland to subdivisions. Stories inside the issue documented loss of farmland not only to subdivisions but also to commercial development, including warehouses and state-backed commercial development projects.

Readers are still reacting to this issue. Some indicate they want to push farm organizations to take up the fight to encourage adoption of policies by state and local government that would protect farmland, not encourage conversion to development. Others are concerned that some are abusing 1031 tax provisions, buying land they believe will develop someday and then using the money they receive once they sell to development to bid up land prices all around the state.

Look for more on these issues coming soon. In the meantime, here’s what one farmer from northeast Indiana has to say about loss of farmland.

Letter to the editor

Dear editor:

My name is Steve Sturgeon. I am from Bluffton, Ind., and I just wanted to reach out to you about how much I appreciated your article in the August edition of the [Indiana] Prairie Farmer concerning the use of farm ground for development. I had some time today to express my feelings. 

It's been an issue for many years, and if it isn't a big problem now [in your area], it will be very soon. I drove to Fort Wayne recently and passed three warehouses on a farm that I used to admire just south of Fort Wayne that had to produce very good yields in its prime. 

I have this conversation all the time with my wife. We live just south of Bluffton, and I remember farm after farm that are no longer farms. North of Bluffton is even worse [when it comes to farms no longer being farms]. 

I am all for development to a degree. I worked in a Kroger warehouse for 30 years plus farmed [at the same time]. Where that warehouse is located, it was developed from farm ground. 

This all concerns me because of the pressure that is put on the agricultural community to produce more and more. Sure, genetics have come a long way, and I never thought we could produce the yields that we see now on a consistent basis. All the glory goes to God on that account. I am a firm believer in that for sure!

I am also a believer in solar energy, but not to the degree of 500-plus acres of prime farmland [removed from production] to develop a solar farm. Money certainly talks, and I understand about retirement and taking care of your family in the future. However, what will happen to those solar panels in time is a whole other topic. 

Thank you again, Mr. Bechman, for all your contributions to the Prairie Farmer, and I just want to encourage you to keep up the good work in informing us as farmers, and hopefully some non-ag-related individuals as well. 

Steve Sturgeon,
Bluffton, Ind.