Ag valuation and wildlife management on Brazos County land

Texas calls this agricultural appraisal, not an "ag exemption." Under the common 1-d-1 path, the land must be used mainly for a qualifying farm or ranch use at the local level of intensity. In most cases, it also needs qualifying use in five of the past seven years.

File Form 50-129 with Brazos CAD before May 1. A late form may be accepted before the appraisal records are approved, usually with a 10% penalty. The chief appraiser decides whether the tract qualifies.

Wildlife management can continue an existing open-space agricultural or timber appraisal. The owner needs a written plan and at least three of seven approved practices. There is no single statewide acreage minimum. Reduced tracts can face extra tests. BCAD requires a wildlife report each year on TPWD Form PWD-888. Send it to BCAD, not TPWD. The appraisal district decides the tax treatment.

A change to nonagricultural use may trigger rollback tax. It generally covers the tax difference for the prior three years in which the lower appraisal applied. State law has exceptions, so the tract's use history and the planned change both matter.