What is the Texas ag exemption?

By Matt Schrader, Bale My Land. Last updated October 2026.

The Texas ag exemption is the everyday name for 1-d-1 open-space agricultural appraisal: qualifying land is taxed on its agricultural productivity value instead of its market value.

This page is for landowners who do not have that appraisal yet. Your county appraisal district, not Bale My Land, decides whether a tract qualifies.

What is 1-d-1 open-space agricultural valuation?

1-d-1 open-space valuation, also called open-space agricultural appraisal, taxes qualifying farm and ranch land on what it can produce instead of what it would sell for. The Texas Constitution, Article VIII, Section 1-d-1, and Tax Code Chapter 23, Subchapter D, are the legal basis, and the Comptroller's Manual for the Appraisal of Agricultural Land (publication 96-300) explains how appraisal districts apply them.

The Comptroller's agricultural appraisal page says the productivity value is usually lower than market value. People call the result an exemption. The appraisal is a special valuation, and the land stays on the tax roll.

Who can qualify for a Texas ag exemption?

Land can qualify when it is currently devoted principally to agricultural use at the degree of intensity generally accepted in the area, and it was devoted principally to agriculture or timber for at least five of the preceding seven years. The chief appraiser of your county appraisal district decides, using local standards.

Land inside an incorporated city or town has extra tests. The Comptroller says it must also either lack general city services comparable to similar areas, or have been in agricultural use continuously for the preceding five years. There is a related continuous-use path when the land is used for wildlife management.

How many acres do you need for an ag exemption in Texas?

State law does not set a statewide acreage minimum for hay, grazing, or crops. Your appraisal district sets the degree of intensity for your area, and that standard often includes a minimum acreage that differs by county and by use.

Published examples in our area include 10 acres in Grayson County and 9 contiguous acres in Kaufman County, each from that district's own guidelines. Where we could not find a published number, we say so. See minimum acres by county, and confirm the current sheet with your district. Beekeeping is the use with a statewide acreage range: 5 to 20 acres.

What does degree of intensity mean for Texas ag valuation?

Degree of intensity means the land is farmed or ranched to the extent typical for that kind of operation in the area, not a token use aimed only at a lower tax bill. The Comptroller's manual says the law does not set the level, so the chief appraiser sets it from local practice.

Tax Code Section 6.12 requires an agricultural advisory board to advise the chief appraiser on intensity standards and other agricultural appraisal issues. Ask your district for its current guidelines for hay, grazing, crops, or bees before you count on a number you heard from a neighbor.

Do you need five of the last seven years of agricultural use?

Yes, Tax Code Section 23.51 requires the land to have been devoted principally to agricultural use or to timber production for five of the seven years before the year you apply. The Comptroller's manual says the degree-of-intensity test applies to the year of the application and the years after, not to those earlier history years.

If the land does not have that history, it generally cannot start on 1-d-1 until the history exists. Business records, leases, and photos are the kind of proof the manual says an owner can use. Land used principally as an ecological laboratory by a college or university follows its own five-year test, which is a different path.

Does hay production qualify for a Texas ag exemption?

Yes, producing crops, including hay, is an agricultural use under Tax Code Section 23.51. The land still has to be principally in that use at the intensity your appraisal district expects.

Districts often look for managed hay: cuttings, weed control, and hay someone would actually use or sell. A lease to a local producer is a common way to do that work if you do not own the equipment. See the hay and grazing lease guide.

Does livestock grazing qualify for a Texas ag exemption?

Yes, raising or keeping livestock is an agricultural use under Tax Code Section 23.51. Grazing still has to be the principal use, at the stocking level your appraisal district treats as typical for the area.

The manual describes livestock as domesticated animals that get their primary feed from vegetation, and it lists cattle, horses, goats, swine, poultry, and sheep as examples. Fence and water are practical requirements for a grazing lease even though the statute does not spell out a fence rule. The lease guide covers what to put in writing.

Does beekeeping qualify for a Texas ag exemption?

Yes, on tracts of at least 5 acres and not more than 20 acres, when the bees are kept for pollination or for human food or other products with commercial value. That limit is in Tax Code Section 23.51(2).

State law does not set a hive count or a days-on-site rule. Appraisal districts do, and they differ. The beekeeping guide quotes Hays, Williamson, and Wise.

Can wildlife management qualify land that has no ag valuation?

The usual wildlife-management path cannot. Tax Code Section 23.51(7)(A) requires that the land already have been appraised as qualified open-space land or as qualified timber land when the wildlife-management use began, and the owner must use at least three of seven listed practices.

The seven practices are habitat control, erosion control, predator control, supplemental water, supplemental food, shelters, and census counts. The Comptroller's wildlife management guidelines (publication 96-354) and Texas Parks and Wildlife cover the plan. The statute also has narrower wildlife paths for certain endangered-species habitat and certain natural-resource restoration projects that do not use the prior-agriculture test. Those are specific legal arrangements, so read Section 23.51(7)(B) and (C) and ask the district before you rely on them. Our wildlife management guide is for land that already qualifies.

How do you apply for 1-d-1 agricultural appraisal?

File Comptroller Form 50-129, Application for 1-d-1 (Open-Space) Agricultural Use Appraisal, with the appraisal district in the county where the land is, not with the Comptroller. The form says the chief appraiser uses it to decide whether the land meets the statutory tests.

A separate form, 50-165, is for the older 1-d agricultural appraisal, which has occupation and income tests this page does not cover. Most open-space land in Texas is 1-d-1. If the chief appraiser asks for more information, the manual says you generally have 30 days to provide it, with one 15-day extension for good cause.

When is the Form 50-129 deadline?

File the completed application before May 1 of the year you want agricultural appraisal. For good cause, the chief appraiser may extend that deadline by not more than 60 days.

Tax Code Section 23.54(d) is the extension rule. A late application can still be filed before the appraisal review board approves the year's records. If it is approved, Section 23.541 imposes a penalty of 10 percent of the difference between the tax imposed and the tax that would have been imposed at market value. The current form describes a narrow death-related late filing that does not carry that penalty. Read the deadline section on Form 50-129, because some transfer rules are specific, and ask your district which ones apply to you.

What is the rollback tax if the use of 1-d-1 land changes?

If 1-d-1 land changes to a non-agricultural use, Tax Code Section 23.55 imposes an additional tax for each of the three years before the year of the change. For each of those years it is the difference between the tax paid on the agricultural value and the tax that would have been due on market value.

A tax lien attaches on the date the use changes. Section 23.55(e) says the bill is due, and penalties and interest start, if it is not paid before the next February 1 that is at least 20 days after the bill is delivered. The statute lists exceptions, including some right-of-way sales, condemnations, and certain transfers to a government for a public purpose, so do not assume every change of use is billed. Switching from one agricultural use to another, such as hay to grazing, is still agricultural use. The Comptroller says the owner who changes the use owes the rollback. More detail is in how the rollback tax works.

How do you keep a Texas ag exemption after you get one?

Keep the land principally in agricultural use at the degree of intensity your district expects, every year you want the appraisal. After the first approval, Form 50-129 says you do not file again unless ownership changes, eligibility ends, or the chief appraiser asks for a new application.

Tax Code Section 23.54(h) requires written notice to the appraisal office before May 1 after eligibility ends or the category of agricultural use changes. Missing that notice can bring a penalty. A written lease, rent records, cutting dates, or head counts are what you show if the district asks whether the use was real. If you do not do the work yourself, leasing to a producer is the usual way to keep the use going.

How do you get an ag exemption if you do not have one yet?

Put the land into a real agricultural use that matches your district's intensity standards, and be ready to show agricultural use for five of the last seven years. Then file Form 50-129 with that appraisal district before May 1.

Start with the district's current ag guidelines, not with a guess about acreage. If the history is already there and the land only needs someone to cut hay, graze it, or keep bees, finding that producer is the practical step. Bale My Land introduces landowners to producers who work their county. We do not decide the appraisal, draft the lease, or set the rent.

Sources: Texas Comptroller, Manual for the Appraisal of Agricultural Land, publication 96-300 (October 2024); Texas Comptroller: Agricultural, Timberland and Wildlife Management Use Special Appraisal; Comptroller Form 50-129; Texas Tax Code Chapter 23; Texas Comptroller, Guidelines for Qualification of Agricultural Land in Wildlife Management Use, publication 96-354 (July 2023); Texas Parks and Wildlife: wildlife management and agricultural land. General information, not tax or legal advice.

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