By Liz Partsch – December 4, 2025
SALEM, Ohio — Annie Warmke never thought she would leave her farm in Muskingum County.
“I thought my ashes (would) be here,” she said.
But when life took a turn in 2023, leaving her unable to care for the land and no one interested in taking it over, she knew she had to find a way to keep it as farmland.
“We never intended to sell the farm. We wanted it to stay agriculture, to stay in a stewardship modality,” Warmke said.
Meanwhile, Sarah and Jason Ricks dreamed of owning a farm to raise their kids on: “It’s our calling to be farmers,” Jason Ricks said. But for years, they have struggled to find affordable farmland.
“Every time we went to put in an offer, a lot of times we would get outbid or we were going to put ourselves in a situation where we’re buying this for way more than what it’s worth, and would (struggle to pay off a mortgage),” Sarah Ricks said.
That’s when the Farmers Land Trust came in.
