Most Texas acreage is taxed on its agricultural use, not its market value. That lowers the tax bill while you own it and raises a question when you sell: does the exemption survive the sale, and who pays if it doesn't?
Updated October 2026
Land qualifies for agricultural (1-d-1) or wildlife-management appraisal when it has been used for that purpose to the degree of intensity typical for the area, for the required number of years. The appraisal follows the land, not the owner: a buyer who keeps the use keeps the valuation, subject to filing with the appraisal district. A buyer who changes the use (develops it, stops grazing it) triggers a rollback.
Rollback is the difference between the taxes paid under ag appraisal and what they would have been at market value, for a set number of prior years, plus interest. The look-back period and interest rate are in Tax Code 23.55 and were shortened by the Legislature in 2019; the appraisal district can quote the exact exposure on your parcel. Rollback is normally the buyer's problem, because it's the buyer's change of use that triggers it, but the contract should say so.
Which exemption the land carries (ag, timber, wildlife), roughly how many acres, and whether there's a current lease to a rancher or farmer. A lease transfers with the land.
Not from selling. Rollback is triggered by a change of use, which is the buyer's decision after closing; the contract should allocate it to them.
If they keep the qualifying use and file with the appraisal district. If they develop the land, they lose it and pay the rollback.
Say so. The lease transfers and most buyers want it in place; it's what keeps the exemption.
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