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Indiana representative discusses legislation, first session  

State Representative Kendell Culp, a Republican from Rensselaer, has authored several bills during his first legislative session.   

He tells Brownfield about House Bill 1557, which would direct the state department of agriculture to conduct an inventory of farmland lost in the state from 2010 to 2022.

“It takes an inventory of all farmland lost during the last 12 years and it also identifies what use it was lost to. There’s a lot of concern about if you lose farmland and it goes to some other sort of development or gets paved over, then how much food production are we losing? It addresses our food security and we’re going to get that data,” he says. “The Indiana State Department of Agriculture is going to have 16 months to collect that data. We’ve met with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, and they said they have county by county data. Once we get that data, then it will be easy to use National Agricultural Statistics Service data county-by-county and we can see what the lost production is per crop per county. It will then be easy to attach current market prices to them and we can get a financial analysis of what that loss is. Once we see that data then we can determine if it’s a large enough loss that we need to be concerned from a food production standpoint. If it is, the next step is we’ll come up with some legislation to hopefully introduce in the 2025 session.”

According to the Indiana General Assembly website, the bill passed out of the Senate and was returned to the House without amendments on March 21.

He also authored House Bill 1132 to create a land use task force.  

“That’s important too because they can use the data that we would have from the lost farmland bill,” he says. “When they get appointed and that taskforce meets, then they can use that as part of a bigger picture of how we help communities prepare for the future for smart growth.”  

The bill had a first reading in the Senate and was referred to the Committee on Commerce and Technology.

Culp says he’s hoping legislation that exempts sales tax from agricultural equipment is successful in the second half of the legislative session.

“Currently there is an exemption for production use. For example, you use a Bush Hog mower to mow stalks in the fall or your pasture, that’s an exempt use. But if you mow your roadsides with it, it’s not an exempt use,” he says. “There’s this whole process of how the department of revenue goes out with auditors and determines what percentage of use that is. my bill simply says they cannot prorate the sales tax. It’s either an exempt purpose or it’s not an exempt purpose. Not only is that going to clarify that, but it’s also going to help farmers, the department of revenue, and equipment retailers.”

He says the legislation could be part of the Department of Revenue bill.

Culp, a grain and livestock farmer, represents House District 16, including parts of Jasper, Pulaski, Starke, and White counties including each of those county seats: Rensselaer, Winamac, Knox, and Monticello.

Brownfield interviewed Culp during the Indiana Farm Bureau Ag Breakfast.

Audio: Kendell Culp