State lawmakers are directing the Indiana State Department of Agriculture to establish a "one stop" online portal for Hoosier farmers, agribusinesses, rural communities and others to more easily access ag-related information and opportunities.
The Indiana Senate voted 49-0 in favor of House Enrolled Act 1149 Monday. It last month was approved 83-5 by the House, sending the measure to Republican Gov. Mike Braun to be signed into law.
The legislation, sponsored by state Reps. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer, and Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron, among others, aims to bring together in one place everything an established or new agricultural enterprise needs to know about their industry.
"It's difficult sometimes to navigate multiple websites to find funding opportunities, regulations or available programs, or just information that could be helpful to farmers or those local communities," Culp said.
The portal, similar to the federal government's farmers.gov website, must include links to the federal and state agencies that oversee agriculture, details of federal and state agricultural funding opportunities, and a venue for agricultural entities to review and comment on pending regulations.
"We propose housing all available state and federal regulations at this portal," Culp said. "We envision this information to be available at the click of a button."
In addition, the Indiana website will host the state's "Inventory of Lost Farmland" that every five years details the number of agricultural acres lost to other uses and the primary cause of any reduction in Hoosier State farmland.
The initial edition of that report last year found a net total of 345,682 acres of Indiana agricultural land, or less than 2%, was repurposed between 2010 and 2022 for other uses, primarily residential development, leaving some 18 million agricultural acres remaining.
The portal plan was the second measure to win final passage this year at the Republican-controlled General Assembly and advance to the governor to be enacted.
The first, also approved Monday, was House Enrolled Act 1121. It permits Indiana to establish concurrent jurisdiction with the federal government for juvenile delinquency cases occurring on military property in the state.
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