County awards contract for farmland

Van Wert independent

The Van Wert County Board of Commissioners awarded a new three-year contract to farm county-owned acreage adjacent to the former Lincolnway Home in Ridge Township during its Thursday meeting.

Winning bidder to farm the land came from Roger Rank, doing business as Triple R Farms Inc. Rank submitted a big of $237.13 per acre for the 304-acre farm, which was nearly $30 higher than the next highest bid ($208 per acre) submitted by Joseph N. Wittler. Other bids included Todd Horstman, $205.50 an acre, and Dan and Jordan Miller, $201.72 per acre.

Commissioner Gary Adams said he was “very pleased” with the bids, which were significantly higher than the previous contract awarded to Horstman for $182 per acre.

The new contract, Adams said, would generate approximately $16,000 more a year than the old one — a total of $48,000 over the life of the contract.

The commissioners also participated in a “webinar” hosted by the County Commissioners Association of Ohio on the worker’s compensation retro program.