General Laws for Mass. Agriculture

General Definition of Agriculture

MGL Ch128 Sec.1A is the official “general” definition of agriculture.

"'Farming' or 'agriculture' shall include farming in all of its branches and the cultivation and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing and harvesting of any agricultural, aquacultural, floricultural or horticultural commodities, the growing and harvesting of forest products upon forest land, the raising of livestock including horses, the keeping of horses as a commercial enterprise, the keeping and raising of poultry, swine, cattle and other domesticated animals used for food purposes, bees, fur-bearing animals, and any forestry or lumbering operations, performed by a farmer, who is hereby defined as one engaged in agriculture or farming as herein defined, or on a farm as an incident to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparations for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market."

Real Estate Property Tax Exemption Policy

MGL Ch 61A sec 2 defines the real estate property tax exemption policy for the state.

Wetlands Protection Act

The Wetlands Protection Act regulations for agriculture are at 310 CMR 10.04 . Scroll down to 10.04 Definitions – Agriculture. This is a lengthy definition and one of the more controversial regulations relating to agriculture.

Other State Regulations Affecting Agriculture