Farmland is any tract or tracts of undeveloped land, devoted to, or capable of the production of agricultural or horticultural crops; and land containing roads constructed for the purpose of harvesting agricultural or horticultural crops shall be assessed as farmland, as determined and classified by criteria developed by the commissioner of agriculture, markets, and food and adopted by the Current Use board. (RSA 79-A:2 VI).

A Soil Potential Index (SPI) is used by assessing officials to determine where within the Farmland assessment range the property should be assessed. It is a number which indicates the production capability of farmland as determined by the United States Soil Conservation Service.  The SPI is available from County Conservation District offices for a minimal fee and your local district office can be found here. (www.nh.nrcs.usda.gov). If the landowner does not provide the SPI to town assessing officials, they may use their own discretion assigning a valuation within the assessment range. However, if the landowner does provide the town with a SPI, the town is required to use it.

Cub 304.02(e) provides the formula for assessing farmland. Assuming an SPI of .60, the formula would calculate as follows:

High end of farm land range $425
Low end of farm land range -25
Difference 400
Sample SPI of .60 x.60
Subtotal 240
Low end of range added back +25
Per acre assessed value $265

Note: Many towns assess farmland at a rate within this range, but by not having a SPI, you are assessed at the range they determine, which may not always reflect your particular soil's ability to produce crops. We have seen SPI ranges as low as 6%. Here is a sample of the different per acre assessed value.

High end of farm land range $425
Low end of farm land range -25
Difference 400
Sample SPI of .06x.06
Subtotal $24.00
Low end of range added back +25
Per acre assessed value $49.00

The SPI, which is a science-based number that reflects your farmland soil's relative ability to produce agricultural crops, could possibly lower your farmland's assessment rate as evidenced above.

More details on farmland assessment may be found in the Current Use Handbook Section 304.02.

For more details on where to have a SPI report done, go to www.nh.nrcs.usda.gov.