Press release
From January 26th to February 24th a landowner may submit a request to include entire
parcels of predominantly viable agricultural land within a certified New York State
Agricultural District.
NYS Agricultural and Markets Law requires that the County Legislature designate an annual
thirty-day time period within which a landowner may submit a request for inclusion of property
within a certified agricultural district. This annual time period occurs in Genesee County from
January 26th to February 24th and is exclusively designed to incorporate property which is
predominantly viable agricultural land – defined by Genesee County as lands that are composed
of at least 51% prime farmland soils and/or are contiguous to the main farm operation.
Applications for the inclusion of land are available at the Genesee County Department of
Planning in County Building No. 2 (3837 W Main Street Rd, Batavia) or can be downloaded
or printed by visiting the website:
http://www.co.genesee.ny.us/departments/planning/agricultural_farmland_protection_board.php#annualenrollment
The application must be completed and signed by the landowner and returned to the Genesee
County Department of Planning by 5:00 PM on February 24th. Due to the language of the NYS
Agricultural and Markets Law, no applications can be accepted before January 26th.
PLEASE NOTE: Requesting enrollment of a property during this thirty-day time period is not a
guarantee that your property will be added to an existing Agricultural District, and it will not
automatically qualify your property for a reduced agricultural property tax assessment. For
information on obtaining a reduced agricultural property tax assessment you must contact your
local assessor. Please remember, Taxable Status Date is March 1st