Property Tax Blog

Agricultural appraisal lowers the value of land owned by qualified farmers and ranchers. It values rural land based on the land's capacity to produce crops, livestock, or timber, instead of its value on the real estate market. This lower value reduces property taxes on the land.

The land must be devoted principally to agricultural use.

Agricultural use includes production of crops, livestock, poultry, fish, or cover crops. It also can include leaving the land idle for a government program or for normal crop or livestock rotation. Land used for raising certain exotic animals (including exotic birds) to produce human food or other items of commercial value and cutting wood for use in fences or structures on adjacent agricultural land also qualifies. Using land for wildlife management is an agricultural use. Such land was previously qualified open-space land and is actively used for wildlife management. Wildlife management land must be used in at least three of seven specific ways to propagate a breeding population of wild animals for human use. Contact your local appraisal office for details. Timberland must be used with the intent to produce income and be devoted principally to the production of timber. Both agricultural land and timberland must be devoted to production at a level of intensity that is common in the local area. The land must have been devoted to agricultural and/or timber production for at least five of the past seven years. However, land within the city limits must have been devoted continuously for the preceding five years, unless the land did not receive substantially equal city services as other properties in the city.