land approved for Ag !!!

[tdwinklr]

After what's been a long 5-year journey starting in 2018 from our land purchase,
we recv'd letters yesterday saying that both plots were APPROVED for Ag-exemption
this year!
When we bought the land, the owners had done nothing to it except let neighbors bale hay
off of it but they never filed anything for Ag so they had accumulated no history on it. Can't imagine
why someone would not do that.
Anyway, we are thrilled and can relax a little now. Next year, we will convert it to Wildlife and be
even more relieved. I'm already meeting several of those requirements.
Thanks to several folks on these forums whose advice and input have been invaluable
in this pursuit.

[DUKFVR]

Congrats!! Gotta be a relief for sure!

[Lincoln Hawk]

If you're in central TX, pm me and I can help you through the wildlife conversion process.

[brokeno]

Now you made be able to afford it. I can’t believe the previous seller did what they did that probably why they sold it. Must have been a long 5 years.

[60 Deluxe]

Good for you. That should leave a few dollars in the bank come tax time.

[mjhaverkamp]

After what's been a long 5-year journey starting in 2018 from our land purchase,
we recv'd letters yesterday saying that both plots were APPROVED for Ag-exemption
this year!
When we bought the land, the owners had done nothing to it except let neighbors bale hay
off of it but they never filed anything for Ag so they had accumulated no history on it. Can't imagine
why someone would not do that.
Anyway, we are thrilled and can relax a little now. Next year, we will convert it to Wildlife and be
even more relieved. I'm already meeting several of those requirements.
Thanks to several folks on these forums whose advice and input have been invaluable
in this pursuit.

What is the advantage of converting to wildlife ? Unless you cannot keep it ag I do not see any advantages, just curious, congrats on getting it zoned ag.

[rolylane6]

After what's been a long 5-year journey starting in 2018 from our land purchase,
we recv'd letters yesterday saying that both plots were APPROVED for Ag-exemption
this year!
When we bought the land, the owners had done nothing to it except let neighbors bale hay
off of it but they never filed anything for Ag so they had accumulated no history on it. Can't imagine
why someone would not do that.
Anyway, we are thrilled and can relax a little now. Next year, we will convert it to Wildlife and be
even more relieved. I'm already meeting several of those requirements.
Thanks to several folks on these forums whose advice and input have been invaluable
in this pursuit.

I'm one of those people. I've been on 11.5 acres for 12 years and still haven't Ag exempted it. I need to get it going but I have too many trees to do hay and bad fences for animals. My goal this year is to get my fences in shape. Haven't decided what animals to run tho. What is your exemption for, hay?

[tdwinklr]

What is the advantage of converting to wildlife ? Unless you cannot keep it ag I do not see any advantages, just curious, congrats on getting it zoned ag.

With Wildlife, the land has to be in Ag-exemption for at least a year prior to being converted over to Wildlife.
Getting a wildlife exemption on property is MUCH easier to maintain than maintaining Ag, unless your a farmer or
animal rancher I guess.
Anyway on wildlife, you only have to do 3 of 7 wildlife mgmt activities every year to keep it, those are set by TPWD.
You can look on their site, the activities are simple and most of us as hunters, likely are already doing some
of those activities.

[tdwinklr]

I'm one of those people. I've been on 11.5 acres for 12 years and still haven't Ag exempted it. I need to get it going but I have too many trees to do hay and bad fences for animals. My goal this year is to get my fences in shape. Haven't decided what animals to run tho. What is your exemption for, hay?

Mine is the same, with lots of trees on it but it doesn't matter. It is under a Native Grass category now but that's where
all the work came in the past few years.
I'll PM you with what we did.

[Randy]

After what's been a long 5-year journey starting in 2018 from our land purchase,
we recv'd letters yesterday saying that both plots were APPROVED for Ag-exemption
this year!
When we bought the land, the owners had done nothing to it except let neighbors bale hay
off of it but they never filed anything for Ag so they had accumulated no history on it. Can't imagine
why someone would not do that.
Anyway, we are thrilled and can relax a little now. Next year, we will convert it to Wildlife and be
even more relieved. I'm already meeting several of those requirements.
Thanks to several folks on these forums whose advice and input have been invaluable
in this pursuit.

It is after the point now, but you could have proved prior use of hay cutting on the property by using prior years' Google Earth imagery.

[mjhaverkamp]

With Wildlife, the land has to be in Ag-exemption for at least a year prior to being converted over to Wildlife.
Getting a wildlife exemption on property is MUCH easier to maintain than maintaining Ag, unless your a farmer or
animal rancher I guess.
Anyway on wildlife, you only have to do 3 of 7 wildlife mgmt activities every year to keep it, those are set by TPWD.
You can look on their site, the activities are simple and most of us as hunters, likely are already doing some
of those activities.

I think there are other programs that allow it to remain ag without farming or ranching, CRP is one of them, Acres for Wildlife is another, I may check into the wildlife exemption but I do not think it will benefit me personally.

[gekko man]

Congrats…working on mine.

[tdwinklr]

It is after the point now, but you could have proved prior use of hay cutting on the property by using prior years' Google Earth imagery.

yeah, I guess. Can you go back in Google history though to get previous years?

[Randy]

yeah, I guess. Can you go back in Google history though to get previous years?

Absolutely.

[dpg481]

With Wildlife, the land has to be in Ag-exemption for at least a year prior to being converted over to Wildlife.
Getting a wildlife exemption on property is MUCH easier to maintain than maintaining Ag, unless your a farmer or
animal rancher I guess.
Anyway on wildlife, you only have to do 3 of 7 wildlife mgmt activities every year to keep it, those are set by TPWD.
You can look on their site, the activities are simple and most of us as hunters, likely are already doing some
of those activities.

That is not true with all counties. We live in Rains Co. and when we bought in 2018 the property had never been in Ag. I had the local TPWD biologist write up the five year plan and the county started the process right then and there. We have now completed year five and this is our last year of full valuation on our 40 acres. It is crazy to me that each county has it's own set of rules, but they will normally follow the biologist's plans. OP congrats, I know it's a huge accomplishment for you and your family.