COLUMBUS — Development from the state's biggest cities is not gobbling up Ohio's farmland at a dramatic pace, according to a study released Wednesday.

        “That issue has been greatly exaggerated in discussions about urban sprawl,” said Samuel Staley, director of The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy's Quality Growth Initiative.

        The Columbus-based nonpartisan research group examined data from the U.S. and Ohio agriculture, natural resources and transportation agencies to study several aspects of development, including the loss of farmland.

        Declines in Ohio's farmland were not as severe throughout the 1990s, which saw booming growth in suburbs, as in previous decades, according to the report.

        In the 1950s, land on Ohio's farms decreased by 11.9 percent. In the 1960s and 1970s, the drop was less dramatic, falling 8.3 percent and 8 percent respectively. By the 1980s, 3.7 percent of farmland was lost.

        The rate of farmland lost in the 1990s was about half that of the 1970s, Staley said.

        “Ohio's urban and suburban counties, despite a decade of rapid growth and development, still contain a substantial share of the state's total farmland,” according to the report.

        Shannon Harps, spokeswoman for the Ohio chapter of the Sierra Club, said the report contains misleading statements that make it seem as though urban sprawl doesn't affect farmland.

        “I don't feel that their message is quite accurate. We do have a problem with sprawl and it is destroying our farmland,” she said.

        Howard Wise, executive director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Office of Farmland Preservation, said Ohio lost about a third of its farmland between 1950 and 1997, prompting the state to look at preservation options.

        State officials and the Legislature were stunned to learn that in 1950, Ohio had nearly 21 million acres of farmland compared with 14.1 million in 1997, he said.

        Last year, voters approved a $400 million bond issue to set up the Clean Ohio Fund, which sets aside at least $25 million over four years for a voluntary easement purchase program for farmers to preserve their land.

        “I think that shows we're committed to this issue,” Mr. Wise said.

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