Part 3 of Spectrum News 1's series "The Year in Farming"

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Ohio — Seven years ago, Matthew Keener decided to take his family's farm in a different direction. 

• A Dayton area farmer made a significant change to his farm, and it came at a terrible time
• His farm, like many others, fell victim to a 40-year-old Ohio tax law – known as Current Agricultural Use Value, or CAUV
• Legislators revised the CAUV in 2017 to hopefully mitigate any substantial increases in tax bills due to the commodities market.

The fifth-generation farmer was hoping to find a sustainable source of revenue to keep his farm's 189-year history intact and build it for the future. 

Everything has worked out, so far, but it almost didn't, thanks to political decisions made nearly 50 years ago. 

“We were on life support there for a while,” said Keener. “It was a very very scary time. There were some things, yeah, we had some real hard conversations.” 

Keener's great-great-grandfather, a Pennsylvania native, bought the 160 acres in 1830 for four horses and a wagon.

Tobacco was the main crop for more than 100 years, but in the 1960s, Keener's grandfather stopped farming the land entirely. 

Keener graduated with a music degree from Wright State University and moved west to Montana. He moved back in 2012 and started transitioning the farm to cattle.

Now with over 100 cattle, Keener hopes to expand to between 500 and 1,000 in the next several years. 

But a property tax bill a few years ago nearly wrecked the whole operation.

It was three times the normal amount, thanks to a jump in commodity prices that's connected to a formula that determines a farm's property value. 

It's called Current Agricultural Use Value, or CAUV. 

Ohio legislators, in the early 1970s, put a measure on the ballot with a primary goal to provide property tax relief to farmers, and also fund public education. Voters overwhelmingly passed the measure.

The complex formula partially uses commodity prices to calculate a value – often lower than fair market price.

The jump in commodities raised Keener's property tax bill to $21,000. 

“I remember when I was deftly afraid of how I was going to pay my diesel bill,” said Keener. “Like, how am I going to get enough diesel to get my truck where it needs to go, and to get the tractor where I need to go. And it's cool that we're still not 100 percent where I want to be financially by any means, but the bare necessities are getting covered.”

Relief came in the following assessment when commodities prices were back to their normal levels.

It was an unforeseen circumstance that Keener was able to survive.

Others weren't so fortunate. 

The 2017 Ag Census found property taxes for Ohio farmers increased 43 percent between 2012 and 2017. That was the largest percentage increase of any state during a five-year period. 

Keener's cattle operation is insulated from commodities – meaning the current trade war and tariffs do not impact his operation or bottom line.

Today's politics don't really affect him, but those of decades past do.

And the chance a trade war escalates or is prolonged would have a ripple effect through the U.S. economy.

The chance of Keener's property taxes skyrocketing again is unknown, but it could happen. And just that possibility gives him caution as he expands. 

“The next question is where do we grow and how do we grow... and it's not going to be here. We're going to try and find a place that has a better tax system than what we're paying,” said Keener.

Keener said he would not abandon the primary farm, but is willing to expand elsewhere to supplement the current operation. 

One of the biggest issues with CAUV is it assesses a farm on what it could do, not necessarily what it is doing.

The Keener farm used to have row crops, and could still farm corn, soybeans, or other commodities. 

But it doesn't, it farms cattle.

Regardless, Keener's tax bill is tied to the potential earnings of his farm not what it's actually earning. 

Fortunately, legislators revised the CAUV in 2017 to hopefully mitigate any substantial increases in tax bills due to the commodities market.