In order to get ag valuation on your property tax you must file a 1-d-1 (open space) application.
You can build your five year history first, before you talk to your appraisal district or you can talk to your appraisal district and file a 1-d-1 before you begin building your 5-year history. If you follow the second course, you will receive a (normal) denial letter from the appraisal district each time you file a 1-d-1 until you have completed your five years.
Six years ago, when we began our process of building our beekeeping history, we talked to the appraisal district first. Over those years I have developed a friendly relationship with our agricultural appraiser. Several times I have dropped in with questions and a few times I have dropped in with a bottle of honey.
I have also had the opportunity to talk to ag appraisers across Texas. My general impression is that these men and women are well grounded in common sense and I like them, but, as I talk to beekeepers around the state I find that a few appraisal districts require what I consider more than necessary. I have heard horror stories about beekeepers being forced to tear out native plants and replant up to 20 acres of flowers. My personal feeling is replanting might be a good thing for bees and for the land, but since bees potentially forage 3 miles from their hive, an area of approximately 18,100 acres, the 20 acres of flowers won’t make a big impact. At a cost of thousands of dollars, it would be more cost-effective to just feed the bees sugar syrup.
From hearing some of these challenging situations, I am beginning to believe it may be wiser to wait and file the 1-d-1 after you have completed your 5-year history. it keeps you under the radar.
Either way, It is vitally important that you keep early receipts. The tax law says you should show intent before January 1st of the first year, so it is a good idea to have receipts or a contract before January 1st. If you start later in the year, keep receipts for your first bees and boxes.
The following paragraph is out of the Texas County Appraiser’s Manual. It is called the “Manual for the Appraisal of Agricultural Land” and is available online.
“The land must have been “devoted principally to agricultural use or to production of timber or forest products” for five of the seven years preceding the application for special appraisal. The five-out-of-seven-years use requirement is self-explanatory. A property owner is required to demonstrate a history of primary agricultural use or timber production that meets the five-year test; presumably the property owner’s business records will help establish this history. The land qualifies as long as it was devoted principally to agriculture use or production of timber or forest products in five of the seven years preceding the application for special appraisal. The degree of intensity test does not apply to these preceding years, only the tax year of application and every year thereafter.”
The first sentence says that the requirement is five out of seven years preceding the application.
It is your choice to apply before or after the five years.