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This story was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com

By Arianna Hunt
TheStatehouseFile.com
August 13, 2024

On Tuesday at the Indiana State Fair, the three major candidates for Indiana lieutenant governor debated in front of a room full of Hoosiers holding their refreshments of choice—lemon shakeups.

A mom told her kids to explore the other agriculture-themed buildings nearby, like the soybean exhibits in the Glass Barn or the putt-putt course in the FFA Pavilion, while she listened to the candidates, all while keeping an eye on her collapsible wagon holding two large bags of kettle corn.

Republican Micah Beckwith, Democrat Terry Goodin and Libertarian Tonya Hudson talked mostly agriculture during their debate. One of the main roles of the lieutenant governor is to oversee the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) and the Office of Community and Rural Affairs and to serve as secretary of agriculture and rural affairs.

In 2023, the ISDA found the state lost around 345,000 acres of farm land between 2010 and 2023, most due to residential development around cities, although the same report showed agricultural production was up.

“We need to make sure that we are not … selling our soul because the highest bidder is coming in with redevelopment dollars that basically say, ‘Give us your farmland, we’re gonna put, you know, all kinds of renewables on it, or all kinds of just new apartments on it,’” said Beckwith, pastor and running mate of Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun.

He also said the government needs to stop incentivizing companies to buy up farmland.

“I am an ardent supporter of property rights, but at the same time, we are incentivizing bad behavior for some of these big conglomerates to come in and get all these tax abatements,” he said.

“Don’t let the government pick winners and losers, and that’s what’s happening right now. That’s why we are losing that farmland—because the government is picking winners and losers, incentivizing bad behavior, not helping the small farms live to see the next generation.”

As Indiana discusses sustainable farming practices like cover crops, a panelist asked Terry Goodin, former USDA Indiana state director for rural development and running mate of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick, about what role the government should play.

“It is the government’s responsibility to try and promote good farming practices, to try and promote conservation, and we can do that in a very, very practical way, we can do that in a way where we can partner with the federal government to draw federal dollars down,” Goodin said .

Goodin believes that Indiana is not leveraging the potential of money it can get from the federal government, money that could go to efforts like conservation that may also keep more of Indiana’s young adults in the state.

“One of the biggest exports that Indiana has is our young adults. We need to stop the export of young adults from Indiana,” Goodin said. “We’ve got to create opportunities in Indiana for these young adults to be able to succeed, and they want to succeed in a state that is clean and conservation-minded.”

Tonya Hudson, real estate broker and running mate of Libertarian Donald Rainwater, also believes the retention of young adults in Indiana is a large concern to farmers who want to carry on the tradition of cultivation in the state.

“I’m looking at the future, and the future is with our youth,” she said.

“I would like to see more students work as interns with the farmers and also at high schools, have food awareness programs so that kids understand that food doesn’t just magically appear in the stores, and maybe they could have gardening programs to grow and appreciate what they’re growing.”

Arianna Hunt is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.