Farmland can be taxed on what it produces, not what it sells for

For tax purposes, farm and ranch land can have two values. One is the market price. The other is what the land can produce. Texas calls that productivity value. It is usually lower than market value.

People often call this an ag exemption. That nickname can mislead you. The land still gets taxed. It just gets a special appraisal, and it still has to be in farm or ranch use at the level accepted for this area.

Yoakum CAD has a local ag advisory committee. Under Tax Code Section 6.12, that board connects the chief appraiser with the farm and ranch community. Its Plains office is at 500 Cowboy Way.

For 1-d-1 open-space ag use, use Form 50-129. The land generally must have been in agricultural or timber production for five of the past seven years. A change away from ag use can trigger rollback taxes.