Farm Tax Act, 1985

Adjusted acre.

2.—(1) In this Act, subject to subsection (2) of this section, “adjusted acre” means any area of agricultural land (whether equal to or greater than one acre) the estimated capacity of which for agricultural production is equivalent to the capacity for such production of one acre of land capable of the estimated highest such production in the State and “adjusted acreage”, in relation to an agricultural land holding, means the total area of agricultural land of that holding expressed in adjusted acres.

(2) In estimating, for the purposes of this section, the capacity for agricultural production of land in any place—

(a) regard shall be had to—

(i) the range of uses to which the land can be put for the purposes of agricultural production,

(ii) the adequacy of the means of access to the land, and

(iii) the following, and any other natural phenomena affecting the capacity of the land for agricultural production:

(I) the nature and quality of the soil,

(II) the location and climate of the place,

(III) whether the land is flat or sloping and, if it is sloping, the direction and the degree of the slope,

(IV) whether the land is sheltered and whether the land is overlooked by hills or mountains,

(V) the structure of the agricultural land holding of which the land forms part,

(VI) the natural drainage of the land and any arterial, local or other drainage affecting the land and provided by a State authority (within the meaning of the State Property Act, 1954 ) or a local authority,

(VII) the adequacy of the water supply to the land, and

(VIII) the accessibility of the land to, and its capacity to support, farm machinery and farm stock and to resist damage to it by farm machinery and farm stock,

(b) it shall be assumed that the land has been, is being and will continue to be, farmed, and that the land and the business of farming the land, has been, is being, and will continue to be, managed reasonably and reasonably efficiently, and

(c) (i) if investment in the land is at a level that is higher than a reasonable level for land generally or falls short of such a level, any capacity of the land for agricultural production, or any lack of such capacity in the land, that is attributable to the part of such investment that is higher than such reasonable level as aforesaid, or, as the case may be, to the short-fall shall be disregarded.

(ii) In subparagraph (i) of this paragraph “investment”, in relation to land, means investment in the land in respect of—

(I) the application of fertilisers or other substances for improving the land for agricultural use,

(II) the levelling and general reclamation of the land,

(III) the clearance of boulders, stones, trees, weeds, gorse or other unwanted vegetation from the land,

(IV) the provision and maintenance of a supply of water and of drains and ditches for the land,

(V) the cutting of hedges on, and the provision and maintenance of shelter for, the land,

(VI) the construction and maintenance of farm buildings, yards, slurry or silage pits and roadways on the land, or

(VII) the provision of machines (including farm machinery) for use on the land,

or in respect of other similar matters.