Protect Your Agricultural Tax Valuation

An agricultural tax exemption in Texas (technically called a "special appraisal" or "1-D-1 valuation") allows qualifying agricultural land to be taxed based on its productive agricultural value rather than its market value. This typically reduces property taxes by 90% or more. The land must be primarily used for agriculture, timber, or a qualifying agricultural purpose and must have been in qualifying use for at least 5 of the preceding 7 years.

While the Texas Tax Code does not set a statewide minimum acreage, most county appraisal districts require at least 10 acres for a standard agricultural valuation. Beekeeping operations may qualify with as few as 5 acres (with a minimum of 6 active hives). Each county sets its own minimum acreage requirements — contact your county appraisal district for specific standards.

If your property loses its agricultural special appraisal, you will face rollback taxes — the difference between the taxes you paid at productivity value and the taxes you would have paid at full market value, for up to 3 years (under HB 3833, effective 2022). This can range from $50,000 to over $200,000 depending on your property's market value. Interest of 7% per annum applies if the rollback amount becomes delinquent.

For agricultural valuations (1-D-1), you typically file Form 50-129 (Application for 1-d-1 Open-Space Land Appraisal) with your county appraisal district. For timber valuations (1-D-1T), you file Form 50-167 (Application for 1-d-1 Open-Space Timberland Appraisal). Your CAD may also require annual renewal documentation or activity reports. Filing is typically due by April 30. LandComply auto-generates these forms from your logged activities.

Rollback taxes are assessed when land loses its agricultural or timber special appraisal. Under HB 3833 (effective 2022), the rollback period is 3 years. The tax is calculated as the difference between what you paid at the productivity value and what you would have paid at full market value for each of those 3 years. Common triggers include change of use, failing to meet intensity standards, missed filing deadlines, and property subdivision below minimum acreage.

LandComply helps you maintain your agricultural or timber valuation by providing year-round activity logging from your phone, GPS-tagged photo documentation, real-time compliance scoring against your county's intensity standards, automated report generation (Form 50-129 and 50-167), deadline reminders, and a 5-year digital archive of all your compliance records. Instead of scrambling in January to reconstruct a year of activities, you log them in real time as you do the work.

If your property uses a 1-D-1W wildlife management valuation (rather than traditional agriculture or timber), visit WildComply — our companion app specifically designed for wildlife management compliance. WildComply tracks the 7 TPWD-required wildlife management practices and auto-generates the PWD-888 annual report. LandComply and WildComply are both products of Knomatic Software.