Virginia law allows for localities adopting a program of special assessments for agriculture, horticulture, forestry and/or open space lands for their land to be taxed based on the value of the land in one of these four uses (use value) instead of its market value. This document describes methods and procedures used to calculate use values for agriculture and horticulture land based on an income and rental rate approach.

The history of Virginia fence law began not long after the first English settlement was founded in 1607. Virginia fence law has transcended from requiring landowners to fence in their livestock beginning in 1631, to requiring landowners to fence-out unwanted livestock beginning in 1643, to the modern-day rule granting localities the authority to return to a fence-in rule of law. This overview sets forth the history of Virginia fence law and explains the modern-day rule of law, including what constitutes a lawful fence and when you need one.

This report succeeds the Agricultural Land Sales in Virginia report analyzing agricultural land sales in the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2010 – 2018 (the “2018 Report”). Similar to its predecessor, this report provides insight into agricultural land sales in the Commonwealth from 2019 through 2020 and summarizes the averages of market-based agricultural land transactions at the multicounty district and statewide levels. The highest growth rate was observed in the Northern ASD district. Statewide, the market-based estimates of farmland averaged $5,533 per acre, a 14% increase from 2019 to 2020.

To support hunger relief work, and to keep safe, quality food from ending up in a landfill, the Code of Virginia (§§ 3.2-5144 and 35.1-14.2) and U.S. Code (42 U.S.C. § 1791) provides certain regulatory exemptions and liability protections to organizations which distribute donated food to people who need it. This includes nonprofit organizations and qualified direct donors. This publication is meant to highlight the regulatory exemptions and liability protections which exist for organizations which distribute donated foods. This publication does not contain legal advice, and any legal questions should be directed to a qualified legal professional.