Keep My Acres
For Texas landowners

Bought rural land? Keep the tax break that came with it.

The old owner's ag valuation usually ends at the sale. Cattle, hay, timber, bees or wildlife: answer plain questions and get the paperwork for how you use your land, ready to file with your county appraisal district. From $69.

  • Ag, timber, bees or wildlife
  • Denied by your county? Full refund
A small East Texas tract with a stock pond, pipe gate and pine tree line
Filing deadlineApril 30Plans go to your county appraisal district.

The form reads like it's for lawyers.

You just want to keep the valuation your land already has. We turn the state forms into plain questions about your land and how you use it. You answer; we prepare the documents.

Tax Code §23.51, form 50-129, PWD-885→Questions about your land
How it works

Three steps. Done in one sitting.

01

Answer plain questions

Your county, your acres, how the land is used now. No jargon. Rough answers are fine.

02

We fill out the forms

The right state form for your use, filled out for your land and your county.

03

Print, sign, file

Mail or drop it off at your county appraisal district by April 30. The address is on your cover sheet.

Start here

What's happening with your land?

Bought land with ag valuation?

The old owner's approval usually ends at the sale. Most new owners need to file their own application by April 30.

$69 one time
Start my application

Switching to wildlife?

Done running cattle? Get your wildlife plan, your 1-d-1 application and a cover sheet. We pick 4 activities that fit your land.

$199 one time
Start my plan

Keeping bees?

Beekeeping qualifies on 5 to 20 acres. Your county sets its own hive count. We'll tell you yours and connect you with a local beekeeper.

Free guide
Read the bee guide

Timber land? It uses its own form (50-167). Same $69, same plain questions.

The wildlife plan

Prices on the page.

The state forms are free, and Texas Parks and Wildlife biologists give free advice. What you pay us for is a finished, county-ready plan without the weeks of figuring it out.

Do it yourselfFree, plus your time
Wildlife consultant$399 to $2,500
Keep My Acres$199
$199 wildlife plan, one time
  • Your wildlife management planTPWD form PWD-885, filled out for your land
  • Your 1-d-1 applicationComptroller form 50-129
  • A filing cover sheetYour appraisal district's address and deadline
Start my plan
Denied by your county? Send us the letter and we refund what you paid.

Many counties, including Polk, also want a yearly report. Our optional $99/year membership walks you through it each January and sends deadline reminders.

APR30

File by April 30.

Late filings get a 10% penalty. Once the county certifies its rolls, usually in late July, they stop taking them.

Who's behind this
I grew up on 23 acres outside Livingston, raising cows, pigs and chickens. My dad had ag valuation on it. When we stopped raising livestock, he lost it. Keeping it shouldn't take a lawyer. That's who this is for.

Walter Teal, Livingston, Texas · More about us

Questions

The short answers.

Does ag valuation transfer when I buy land?

Usually not. The old owner's approval ends at the sale and you file your own application. Since 2026 there's an exception: if the land is used the same way by the same people (say, the same rancher keeps leasing it), it carries over, and a late application gets extra time with no penalty.

Can I start ag on land with no history?

Not right away. The land has to have been in ag or timber use for 5 of the last 7 years before it qualifies.

Will switching to wildlife raise my taxes?

No. Wildlife land keeps the same appraisal category it had before the switch.

Where do I file?

With your county appraisal district, not the Comptroller or Texas Parks and Wildlife. Late filings get a 10% penalty.

Are you lawyers or biologists?

No. We prepare documents only. It's not legal, tax, or biological advice.

Get the paperwork off your list before April 30.

Plain questions. From $69.

Find your paperwork