Section 301. Definitions

When used in this article:
    1.  "Agricultural  assessment value" means the value per acre assigned
  to land for assessment purposes determined pursuant to  the  capitalized
  value of production procedure prescribed by section three hundred four-a
  of this article.
    2.  "Crops, livestock and livestock products" shall include but not be
  limited to the following:
    a. Field  crops,  including  corn,  wheat,  oats,  rye,  barley,  hay,
  potatoes and dry beans.
    b. Fruits, including apples, peaches, grapes, cherries and berries.
    c. Vegetables, including tomatoes, snap beans, cabbage, carrots, beets
  and onions.
    d.  Horticultural  specialties,  including  nursery  stock, ornamental
  shrubs, ornamental trees and flowers.
    e. Livestock and livestock products, including  cattle,  sheep,  hogs,
  goats,  horses,  poultry,  ratites,  such  as ostriches, emus, rheas and
  kiwis, farmed deer, farmed buffalo, fur bearing  animals,  wool  bearing
  animals, such as alpacas and llamas, milk, eggs and furs.
    f. Maple sap.
    g.  Christmas  trees  derived  from a managed Christmas tree operation
  whether dug for transplanting or cut from the stump.
    h. Aquaculture products, including fish, fish products,  water  plants
  and shellfish.
    i.  Woody  biomass,  which means short rotation woody crops raised for
  bioenergy, and shall not include farm woodland.
    j. Apiary products, including honey, beeswax, royal jelly, bee pollen,
  propolis, package bees, nucs  and  queens.  For  the  purposes  of  this
  paragraph,  "nucs"  shall  mean  small  honey  bee colonies created from
  larger colonies including the nuc box, which is a smaller version  of  a
  beehive, designed to hold up to five frames from an existing colony.
    3.  "Farm  woodland"  means  land  used for the production for sale of
  woodland products, including but not limited to logs, lumber, posts  and
  firewood. Farm woodland shall not include land used to produce Christmas
  trees  or  land  used  for  the  processing  or  retail merchandising of
  woodland products.
    4. "Land used in agricultural production" means not  less  than  seven
  acres  of land used as a single operation in the preceding two years for
  the production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products of  an
  average  gross sales value of ten thousand dollars or more; or, not less
  than seven acres of land used in the preceding two years  to  support  a
  commercial  horse  boarding  operation with annual gross receipts of ten
  thousand dollars or more. Land used in agricultural production shall not
  include  land  or  portions  thereof  used  for  processing  or   retail
  merchandising  of such crops, livestock or livestock products. Land used
  in agricultural production shall also include:
    a.  Rented  land  which  otherwise  satisfies  the  requirements   for
  eligibility for an agricultural assessment.
    a-1.  Land  used  by  a not-for-profit institution for the purposes of
  agricultural research  that  is  intended  to  improve  the  quality  or
  quantity  of  crops,  livestock  or  livestock products. Such land shall
  qualify for an agricultural assessment upon application made pursuant to
  paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section three hundred five  of  this
  article, except that no minimum gross sales value shall be required.
    b.  Land  of  not less than seven acres used as a single operation for
  the production for sale  of  crops,  livestock  or  livestock  products,
  exclusive of woodland products, which does not independently satisfy the
  gross  sales  value  requirement,  where  such  land  was  used  in such
  production for the preceding two years and currently is  being  so  used

  under  a written rental arrangement of five or more years in conjunction
  with land which is eligible for an agricultural assessment.
    c.  Land  used  in  support  of  a  farm  operation  or  land  used in
  agricultural  production,  constituting  a  portion  of  a  parcel,   as
  identified  on  the  assessment roll, which also contains land qualified
  for an agricultural assessment.
    d. Farm woodland which is part of  land  which  is  qualified  for  an
  agricultural  assessment,  provided,  however,  that  such farm woodland
  attributable to any separately described and assessed parcel  shall  not
  exceed fifty acres.
    e.  Land  set  aside  through  participation in a federal conservation
  program pursuant to title one  of  the  federal  food  security  act  of
  nineteen   hundred   eighty-five  or  any  subsequent  federal  programs
  established for the purposes of replenishing highly erodible land  which
  has  been  depleted by continuous tilling or reducing national surpluses
  of agricultural commodities and such land shall qualify for agricultural
  assessment upon application made pursuant to paragraph a of  subdivision
  one  of  section  three  hundred  five  of  this article, except that no
  minimum gross sales value shall be required.
    f. Land of not less than seven acres used as a single operation in the
  preceding two years for the production for sale of crops,  livestock  or
  livestock  products  of  an  average  gross  sales value of ten thousand
  dollars or more, or land of less than  seven  acres  used  as  a  single
  operation  in  the  preceding  two  years for the production for sale of
  crops, livestock or livestock products of an average gross  sales  value
  of fifty thousand dollars or more.
    g.  Land  under a structure within which crops, livestock or livestock
  products are produced, provided that the sales of such crops,  livestock
  or  livestock  products meet the gross sales requirements of paragraph f
  of this subdivision.
    h. Land that is owned or rented by a farm operation in  its  first  or
  second  year of agricultural production, or, in the case of a commercial
  horse boarding operation in its first or second year of operation,  that
  consists of (1) not less than seven acres used as a single operation for
  the  production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products of an
  annual gross sales value of ten thousand dollars or more;  or  (2)  less
  than  seven acres used as a single operation for the production for sale
  of crops, livestock or livestock products of an annual gross sales value
  of fifty thousand  dollars  or  more;  or  (3)  land  situated  under  a
  structure  within  which  crops,  livestock  or  livestock  products are
  produced, provided that such crops, livestock or livestock products have
  an annual gross sales value of (i) ten thousand dollars or more, if  the
  farm  operation  uses seven or more acres in agricultural production, or
  (ii) fifty thousand dollars or more, if the  farm  operation  uses  less
  than  seven acres in agricultural production; or (4) not less than seven
  acres used as a single operation to support a commercial horse  boarding
  operation with annual gross receipts of ten thousand dollars or more.
    i.  Land  of  not less than seven acres used as a single operation for
  the production for sale of orchard or vineyard crops when such  land  is
  used  solely  for  the purpose of planting a new orchard or vineyard and
  when such land is also owned or  rented  by  a  newly  established  farm
  operation  in  its  first,  second, third or fourth year of agricultural
  production.
    j. Land of not less than seven acres used as a  single  operation  for
  the production and sale of Christmas trees when such land is used solely
  for  the purpose of planting Christmas trees that will be made available
  for sale, whether dug for transplanting or cut from the stump  and  when
  such  land  is  owned or rented by a newly established farm operation in

  its  first,  second,  third,  fourth  or  fifth  year  of   agricultural
  production.
    k. Land used to support an apiary products operation which is owned by
  the  operation  and  consists  of (i) not less than seven acres nor more
  than ten acres used as a single operation in the preceding two years for
  the production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products of  an
  average  gross  sales value of ten thousand dollars or more or (ii) less
  than seven acres used as a single operation in the preceding  two  years
  for the production for sale of crops, livestock or livestock products of
  an average gross sales value of fifty thousand dollars or more. The land
  used  to  support an apiary products operation shall include, but not be
  limited to, the land under a structure within which apiary products  are
  produced, harvested and stored for sale; and a buffer area maintained by
  the   operation   between   the   operation   and  adjacent  landowners.
  Notwithstanding any other provision of  this  subdivision,  rented  land
  associated  with  an  apiary  products  operation is not eligible for an
  agricultural assessment based on this paragraph.
    5.  "Oil,  gas  or  wind  exploration,   development   or   extraction
  activities"  means  the  installation  and use of fixtures and equipment
  which are necessary for the exploration, development  or  extraction  of
  oil,  natural  gas  or  wind  energy,  including  access roads, drilling
  apparatus, pumping facilities, pipelines, and wind turbines.
    6. "Unique and irreplaceable agricultural land" means  land  which  is
  uniquely  suited  for the production of high value crops, including, but
  not limited to fruits, vegetables and horticultural specialties.
    7.  "Viable  agricultural  land"  means  land  highly   suitable   for
  agricultural  production  and  which  will  continue  to be economically
  feasible for such use if real property taxes, farm use restrictions, and
  speculative activities are limited  to  levels  approximating  those  in
  commercial  agricultural  areas  not  influenced  by  the  proximity  of
  non-agricultural development.
    8. "Conversion" means an outward or affirmative act changing  the  use
  of  agricultural  land  and  shall not mean the nonuse or idling of such
  land.
    9. "Gross sales value" means the proceeds from the sale of:
    a. Crops, livestock and livestock products produced on  land  used  in
  agricultural  production  provided,  however,  that  whenever  a crop is
  processed before sale, the proceeds shall be based upon the market value
  of such crop in its unprocessed state;
    b. Woodland  products  from  farm  woodland  eligible  to  receive  an
  agricultural assessment, not to exceed two thousand dollars annually;
    c. Honey and beeswax produced by bees in hives located on an otherwise
  qualified  farm  operation  but which does not independently satisfy the
  gross sales requirement;
    d. Maple syrup processed from maple  sap  produced  on  land  used  in
  agricultural  production  in  conjunction  with the same or an otherwise
  qualified farm operation;
    e. Or payments received by  reason  of  land  set  aside  pursuant  to
  paragraph e of subdivision four of this section;
    f.  Or  payments received by thoroughbred breeders pursuant to section
  two hundred fifty-four of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and  breeding
  law; and
    g.  Compost,  mulch  or  other  organic  biomass  crops  as defined in
  subdivision  sixteen  of  this  section  produced  on   land   used   in
  agricultural production, not to exceed five thousand dollars annually.
    11.  "Farm operation" means the land and on-farm buildings, equipment,
  manure  processing  and  handling  facilities,   and   practices   which
  contribute  to  the  production,  preparation  and  marketing  of crops,

  livestock and livestock products as a commercial enterprise, including a
  "commercial horse boarding operation" as defined in subdivision thirteen
  of this section, "timber processing" as defined in subdivision  fourteen
  of  this  section and "compost, mulch or other biomass crops" as defined
  in subdivision sixteen of this section. For purposes  of  this  section,
  such  farm  operation  shall also include the production, management and
  harvesting of "farm woodland", as defined in subdivision three  of  this
  section. Such farm operation may consist of one or more parcels of owned
  or rented land, which parcels may be contiguous or noncontiguous to each
  other.
    12.  "Agricultural  data  statement"  means  an identification of farm
  operations within an agricultural district located within  five  hundred
  feet  of  the  boundary  of  property  upon  which  an  action requiring
  municipal review and approval by the planning  board,  zoning  board  of
  appeals,  town  board,  or village board of trustees pursuant to article
  sixteen of the town law or article seven of the village law is proposed,
  as provided in section three hundred five-a of this article.
    13.  "Commercial  horse  boarding  operation"  means  an  agricultural
  enterprise, consisting of at least seven acres and boarding at least ten
  horses,  regardless  of ownership, that receives ten thousand dollars or
  more in gross receipts annually from fees generated either  through  the
  boarding  of  horses  or  through  the  production  for  sale  of crops,
  livestock, and livestock products, or through  both  such  boarding  and
  such  production.  Under  no  circumstances  shall  this  subdivision be
  construed to include operations whose primary on site function is  horse
  racing.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision  of  this subdivision, a
  commercial horse boarding operation that is proposed or in its first  or
  second  year  of  operation  may qualify as a farm operation if it is an
  agricultural  enterprise,  consisting  of  at  least  seven  acres,  and
  boarding at least ten horses, regardless of ownership, by the end of the
  first year of operation.
    14.  "Timber  processing" means the on-farm processing of timber grown
  on a farm operation into woodland products, including but not limited to
  logs, lumber, posts and firewood, through the use of a readily moveable,
  nonpermanent saw mill, provided that such farm operation consists of  at
  least  seven  acres  and produces for sale crops, livestock or livestock
  products of an annual gross sales value of ten thousand dollars or  more
  and  that  the  annual  gross  sales  value  of  such processed woodland
  products does not exceed the annual gross sales  value  of  such  crops,
  livestock or livestock products.
    15.  "Agricultural  tourism"  means  activities  conducted by a farmer
  on-farm for the enjoyment or education of the  public,  which  primarily
  promote  the  sale,  marketing,  production,  harvesting  or  use of the
  products  of  the  farm  and  enhance  the  public's  understanding  and
  awareness of farming and farm life.
    * 16.  "Apiary  products  operation" means an agricultural enterprise,
  consisting of land owned by the operation,  upon  which  bee  hives  are
  located  and  maintained  for  the  purpose of producing, harvesting and
  storing apiary products for sale.
    * NB There are 2 sb 16's
    * 16. "Compost, mulch  or  other  organic  biomass  crops"  means  the
  on-farm processing, mixing, handling or marketing of organic matter that
  is  grown  or produced by such farm operation to rid such farm operation
  of its excess agricultural waste; and the on-farm processing, mixing  or
  handling  of  off-farm  generated  organic matter that is transported to
  such farm operation and is necessary to  facilitate  the  composting  of
  such  farm  operation's  agricultural waste. This shall also include the
  on-farm processing, mixing or handling  of  off-farm  generated  organic

  matter  for  use  only on that farm operation. Such organic matter shall
  include, but not be limited to, manure, hay, leaves, yard waste, silage,
  organic  farm  waste,  vegetation,  wood  biomass  or   by-products   of
  agricultural  products  that have been processed on such farm operation.
  The resulting products shall be converted into compost, mulch  or  other
  organic biomass crops that can be used as fertilizers, soil enhancers or
  supplements,  or  bedding  materials.  For  purposes  of  this  section,
  "compost" shall be processed by the aerobic, thermophilic  decomposition
  of  solid  organic  constituents  of  solid  waste  to produce a stable,
  humus-like material.
    * NB There are 2 sb 16's