Mike & Rhonda Yoder
Farm
Receives Permanent Protection
(updated
05.01.08)
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 Elkhart County Commissioner Mike
Yoder and his wife Rhonda have been granted a permanent conservation
easement on 70 acres of their farm. Mike is the owner of Crystal Valley
Dairy Farms, consisting of 450 dairy cows and 230 acres of cropland used
to produce corn and soybeans.
 Nonprofit group, Wood-Land-Lakes Resource Conservation and Development
(RC&D), Inc., of which Mike is a Land Committee Member, will be
protecting the development rights on these 70 acres. Under the terms of
the agreement, Mike and Rhonda, or whomever they might sell or lease the
farm to, can continue to use the land for agricultural or conservation
purposes. Wood-Land-Lakes RC&D will monitor the farm every year, to be
sure the restrictions the Yoder’s have placed on their farm are being
adhered to.
Mike has been committed to working with his community to provide the
tools needed to retain the agribusiness sector in Elkhart County.
Protective Zoning, Agriculture TIF Districts, and a Land Trust for the
donation of development rights are all an important part of this effort.
 “I like to practice what I preach, so as the opportunities to use these
tools become available to me and when it makes good business sense -- I
use them. I have rezoned our dairy operation to an A-4 district, leased
the development rights on that farm to the county through the Middlebury
Ag TIF district, and now have donated the development rights on another
70-acre farm,” Yoder said.
“I hope my actions encourage other farmers in the community to consider
using these tools to preserve the land needed for another generation of
farmers in Elkhart County. Housing and new manufacturing plants should
not be considered the highest and best use for our soil - a limited
natural resource. Our soil is not only our source of food, but also a
growing source of renewable energy and the open space that agriculture
provides has become an important part of community's definition of
quality of life or quality of place,” Yoder explained.
 Kathy Latz, Coordinator for Wood-Land-Lakes RC&D, explains, “The group
holds conservation easements in Allen, St. Joseph, Whitley, LaGrange,
Steuben, and Elkhart counties and is currently working on preserving
farmland in several other northeast Indiana counties. Wood-Land-Lakes
RC&D began in 1994, with a primary goal of preserving farms, woodlands,
pastures, prairies, and wetlands for future generations.”
Click here for more information
on permanently preserving agricultural lands or
contact us.
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