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. The Commissioner's Office reserves the right to request copies of tax returns to show the five year history of continuous farming prior to being approved for Land Use. Taxpayers wishing to participate in the Land Use Program will be asked to furnish a five year history of their Federal 1040 income tax Schedule F. If you do not file a Schedule F and wish to be in the Land Use Program, you will be required to submit documentation of a "bona fide" farm operation in another manner such as feed receipts, fertilizer receipts, receipts from a sale of livestock/crops, etc.

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 twelve (12) animal unit months of commercial livestock or poultry per five (5) acres of open land in the previous year. An animal unit is 1 cow, 5 sheep, 5 goats, 5 swine, 100 chickens, 66 turkeys and 100 other fowl. Horses can qualify the land only if they are being used for a breeding or boarding business, riding academies, sale of manure, and training. Horses maintained exclusively for recreational purposes DO NOT qualify the land.
• Example
  • 1 cow or 5 sheep or 100 chickens per 5 acres for 12 months
  • 2 cows or 10 sheep or 200 chickens per 5 acres for 6 months
  • 3 cows or 15 sheep or 300 chickens per 5 acres for 4 months
  • 4 cows or 20 sheep or 400 chickens per 5 acres for 3 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