Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title IX Chapter 61A
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 61A, § 3 (2026)

Land of five-acre minimum area actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural uses defined; gross sales and program payment standard

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 3. Land not less than five acres in area shall be deemed to be actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural uses when the gross sales of agricultural, horticultural or agricultural and horticultural products resulting from such uses together with the amount, if any, payable under a soil conservation or pollution abatement program of the federal government or the commonwealth total not less than five hundred dollars per year or when the use of such land is clearly proven to be for the purpose of achieving an annual total of not less than five hundred dollars from such gross sales and program payments within the normal product development period as determined by the farmland valuation advisory commission established pursuant to section eleven of this chapter. In cases where the land is more than five acres in area, the gross sales and program payment standard above set forth shall be increased at the rate of five dollars per acre except in the case of woodland or wetland for which such increase shall be at the rate of fifty cents per acre.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1986–2024 · leading case: Bateman v. Bd. of Appeals of Georgetown, 775 N.E.2d 1276 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002).
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Bateman v. Bd. of Appeals of Georgetown, 775 N.E.2d 1276 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). “A riding stable of the size and type proposed here would satisfy such a requirement without reference to the parcels’ status under G. L. c. 61A, § 3.”
Henry Komosa v. Bd. of Assessors of Montague (Mass. App. Ct. 2024). · cites it 4× “He claims that the statute is ambiguous, and points to the language of G. L. c. 61A, § 3, which, he contends, provides a different way to qualify land as agricultural for tax purposes.”
Nashawena Trust v. Bd. of Assessors, 501 N.E.2d 506 (Mass. 1986). “61 A, § 1, must also be included in determining the revenue requirements under G. L. c. 61A, § 3. We disagree. As stated by the board: “[T]he statement that land actively devoted to agricultural uses shall be deemed to include certain contiguous land must be interpreted as…”
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