Sustaining the farm through the future

By Matt Reese

Preserving farmland is a very complicated matter, but a vitally important part of the future of Ohio agriculture. The details of every acre out there can be a bit different, but Geoff Mavis of Fayette County has taken diverse and extensive steps to preserve his family’s Jefferson Farm for generations to come. His son is the seventh generation farming the land on the farm that has been in the family since 1840.

First, Mavis has worked through the years to be a better steward of the land, deriving income from less productive areas through conservation programs, and improving profitability in more productive areas.

“We have a mile of Paint Creek running through the farm so we tried to, with the help of the government, provide buffer strips with CREP ground out 200 feet and the payments have been pretty good over the years for that, so it’s not just altruism.… Continue reading