Area

• the minimum area shall be 5 acres of cleared land for agricultural and/or horticultural use; the minimum shall be 20 acres for forest use

History of production

• the property must have a 5 year history of animal and/or crop production for sale

Qualifying crops

• crops that qualify are (a) forage crops (b) commercial sod (c) grains and feed crops (d) tobacco, cotton and peanuts (e) livestock (f) bees and products (g) commercial game (h) trees or timber less than 20 acres so spread as to constitute a forest area and produced incidental to other farm operations (i) fruits and nuts (j) vegetables (k) nursery products and floral products

Crop production

• the field crop production must be primarily for commercial uses and the average crop yield per acre on each crop grown on the real estate during the immediate three years previous, must be equal to at least one-third of the county average for the past three years

Animal units

• there shall be a minimum of 12 animal unit months of commercial livestock or poultry per five acres of open land in the previous year; an animal unit is 1 cow, 5 sheep, 5 swine, 100 chickens, 66 turkeys and 100 other fowl
• Example
  • 1 cow per 5 acres for 12 months
  • 100 chickens per 5 acres for 12 months
  • 2 cows per 5 acres for 6 months
  • 200 chickens per 5 acres for 6 months
  • 3 cows per 5 acres for 4 months
  • 300 chickens per 5 acres for 4 months

Certification

• to qualify for agricultural or horticultural use, all owners must certify that the real estate is being used in a planned program of soil management and soil conservation practices which is intended to reduce or prevent soil erosion, maintain soil nutrients and control brush, woody growth and noxious weeds on row crops, hay and pasture

Roll back tax

• roll back tax applies when land changes from a qualifying to a nonqualifying use; any change in use must be reported to the Commissioner of the Revenue's office within 60 days