(a) Valuation amounts for agricultural land for assessment purposes shall be based upon the Agricultural Land Valuation Study, and shall be published annually by January first or as soon thereafter as possible by the Department. The valuation of agricultural land is based upon the land's capability to produce forage or crops. Rangeland is valued based on grazing fees per animal unit month (AUM), dry cropland is valued based on all wheat production, and irrigated cropland is valued based on all hay production.
(b) Department responsibilities include using: - (i) The Productivity Method of Value. Productive capability of agricultural land for valuation purposes may be determined by classification of such land and application of a capitalized earnings approach.
- (A) Agricultural income may be projected by developing gross income estimates, when possible, based on published data. Projected net income to be capitalized may be determined by applying typical rental shares to projected gross income.
- (B) The commodity prices of the agricultural products in Wyoming are based on data from the Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service. Annually, the Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service makes estimates of the marketing year average price received by farmers and ranchers for all hay, all wheat and for grazing on privately owned non-irrigated land. The annual prices obtained from the Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service are converted to a five year weighted average
- (ii) Land Use Valuation Procedure.
- (A) Irrigated Crop Land.
- (I) The gross income from irrigated cropland is based on the price of all hay reported in dollars per ton by the Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service. This price information is converted to a 5 year weighted average. The gross income from irrigated cropland is calculated using the 5 year weighted average price of all hay per ton. The net income from irrigated cropland is calculated using the tenant-landlord share (60%-40%) arrangement. The net income is extracted from the landlord share (40% of gross income). Expenses (50% of the landlord share) are then deducted from the landlord share gross income. Expenses are miscellaneous costs that the landlord typically pays. Expenses for irrigated cropland production include water costs and irrigation system maintenance costs. The expenses subtracted from the landlord gross income results in a landlord net income per ton.
- (II) An additional deduction is subtracted from the value per ton. This deduction (15% of the value per ton) accounts for a loss in production due to necessary management practices. Irrigated cropland has a loss in production during the seed year or the first year of the hay stand (assuming the stand is replanted every 5 years). The production loss deduction is subtracted from the value per ton to reach a net value per ton. The net income is then capitalized to reach a land value per acre. This is done by multiplying the yield per acre (in tons per acre) by the net value per ton. This figure is then divided by the capitalization rate, resulting in a land value per acre. The values are applied to the proper soil class (see Chapter 5, Mapping and Agricultural Manual) and the proper crop land LRA (see Chapters 5 and 6, Mapping and Agricultural Manual).
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- (B) Dry Crop Land
- (I) The gross income from dry cropland production is based on the price of all wheat reported in dollars per bushel by the Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service. The price information is converted to a 5 year weighted average. The gross income from dry cropland is calculated using the 5 year weighted average price of all wheat per bushel.
- (II) The net income from dry cropland production is calculated using the tenant-landlord share (66.67-33.33) arrangement. The net income is extracted from the landlord share (33.33% of gross income). Expenses (32% of the landlord share) are then deducted from the landlord share gross income. Expenses are miscellaneous costs that the landlord typically pays. Expenses for dry cropland production include herbicides, insecticides and maintenance nitrogen fertilizer. The expenses subtracted from the landlord gross income results in a landlord net income per bushel.
- (III) An additional deduction is subtracted from the value per bushel. This deduction (50% of the value per bushel) accounts for a loss in production due to necessary management practices. Dry cropland has a loss in production due to the acreage being in summer fallow (non-production) each year. The production loss deduction is subtracted from the value per bushel to reach a net value per bushel.
- (IV) The net income is then capitalized to reach a land value per acre. This is done by multiplying the yield per acre (in bushel per acre) by the net value per bushel. This figure is then divided by the capitalization rate, resulting in a land value per acre. The values are applied to the proper soil class (see Chapter 5, Mapping and Agricultural Manual) and the proper crop land LRA (see Chapters 5 and 6, Mapping and Agricultural Manual).
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- (C) Rangeland
- (I) The gross income from rangeland is based on the price of grazing reported in dollars per AUM by the Wyoming Agricultural Statistics Service. This price information is converted to a 5 year weighted average. The gross income from rangeland is calculated using the 5 year weighted price of grazing per AUM. All of the gross income from grazing is treated as cash rent paid to the owner for grazing. Expenses are then deducted from the gross income. Expenses (10% of owner gross income) for rangeland production are miscellaneous costs that the owner typically pays. Expenses for rangeland production include stock water and fence maintenance costs. The expenses subtracted from the gross income results in a net income per AUM.
- (II) The net income is then capitalized to reach a land value per acre. This is done by multiplying the yield per acre (in AUM's per acre) by the net income per AUM. This figure is then divided by the capitalization rate, resulting in a land value per acre. Where the minimum values of rangeland and the maximum values of wasteland are less than $10.00/acre, those values are established at $10.00/acre for assessment purposes. The values are applied to the proper rangeland grouping (see Chapter 5, Mapping and Agricultural Manual) and the proper rangeland LRA (see Chapters 5 and 6, Mapping and Agricultural Manual).
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- (D) Conservation Reserve Program Lands (CRP). CRP land shall be taxed according to its use and class before it was enrolled in the CRP Program. This was most generally a class of dry cropland; however some irrigated land has also been placed in CRP. If it is suggested that CRP be valued at rangeland value, evidence should be provided that the land has lost its crop acreage base (CAB) and will not be returned to a cropland status in the future or at the end of the 10-year CRP program. Written documentation of the loss of crop acreage base (CAB) could be obtained from the County FSA office.
(c) The County Assessor shall analyze and select the value used, within the range of values for the current year as published in the Department's Agricultural Land Valuation Study for each productivity category and LRA that is present within the county. This analysis may be based on local review of the agricultural land property, specific soil productivity conditions, mapped soil classifications, LRA's, published or independent production yield surveys.
011-10 Wyo. Code R. § 10-5