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Ohio State University's Center for Farmland Policy Innovation announced support for three projects to test-drive new ideas to protect Ohio's farmland.

The grants, totaling more than $100,000, went to applicants in Portage, Wayne and Clark counties. The center will act as a partner on each of the projects, and each community is contributing at least a 25 percent local match in either direct or in-kind funding.

"I think this is the first step toward seeing some really innovative, creative ways to protect Ohio's farmland while also encouraging smart development in the state," said Jill Clark, interim director of the center, housed in Ohio State University's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. These are the first awards made through the center's Farmland Protection Partnership Program. The center is planning to request proposals for another round of funding in 2007, said Clark.

Clark announced the awards at the 7th Annual Ohio Farmland Preservation Summit at the Ohio Department of Agriculture today (Thursday, Nov. 2). U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine attended the event and addressed the group on the importance of protecting farmland.

One award went to a partnership between the village of Hiram, Hiram Township and Hiram College in Portage County to determine whether Transfers of Development Rights (TDRs) are a viable tool to protect farmland in the township and stimulate growth in the village. TDRs, which have been used in other states to protect farmland but never before in Ohio, focus development in areas that have the services to handle growth and protect land in areas that don't. Farmers are compensated for protected land and developers are provided bonuses in areas that are considered to be able to handle growth.

"This is forging new ground in Ohio," Clark said. "It's a very exciting project and will have implications statewide."

Wayne County, which, along with collaborators in Holmes and Ashland counties, will use the $17,875 grant to conduct a comprehensive review of all the county's policies to determine their effect on agriculture and land use, and then suggest revisions to present to county commissioners. The process will begin in Wayne County and be replicated in the other two counties.

About three years ago, Wayne County formed an Ag Success Team to discuss area-wide strategies to support agriculture, said Ann Obrecht, Wayne County commissioner.

"Wayne County has been one of Ohio's leading agricultural counties for decades, and we want to retain and expand agriculture in Wayne and surrounding counties," Obrecht said.

Another award went to Clark County for the "Clark County Farmland Policy Innovation Program: Agriculture in the Economy," which will develop a strategy for finding a funding source to protect an additional 10,000 acres of farmland in its ongoing farmland preservation program -- a joint venture with the Tecumseh Land Trust.

The Center for Farmland Policy Innovation began operations in March 2006 with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. The goals for the center's Farmland Protection Partnership Program include supporting projects that would be successful in protecting farmland on a local basis; encouraging innovative programs in Ohio and offering them as examples for the rest of the state; and offering support to help local governments do more to protect farmland.

For more information about this program, see the center's Web site at http://cffpi.osu.edu/program.htm.