New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 1 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND MARKETS › Chapter IX - Agricultural Districts › Part 370 - Land Classification System › Section 370.2 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
For the purposes of this Part, the following terms shall mean
				  the following:
(a) Agricultural
				district means a district established pursuant to section 303 or
				304  of the Agriculture and Markets
				Law.
(b) Agricultural districting
				advisory committee means a committee, established by a county legislative body
				pursuant to section 302  of the Agriculture and Markets Law, to
				advise the county legislative body and to work with the county planning board,
				in relation to the establishment, modification or termination of agricultural
				districts.
(c) Agricultural soil
				group means one of ten mineral soil groups or four organic soil groups
				established by this system.
(d)
				Agricultural value assessment means an annual assessment of land used in
				agricultural production which satisfies the requirement of section 305 or
				306  of the Agriculture and Markets Law and
				is thereby subject to an agricultural value ceiling.
(e) Agricultural value per acre means the
				average value per acre of land used in agricultural production as determined
				annually on the basis of its agricultural value without consideration for other
				potential uses.
(f) Assessor means
				the person having the power to assess property for taxation.
(g) Board means the State Board of
				Equalization and Assessment.
(h)
				Commissioner means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets of the State of
				New York.
(i) Commitment means a
				declaration by the owner of land used in agricultural production located
				outside of an agricultural district that such land will be used exclusively for
				agricultural production for the next succeeding eight years.
(j) Cultivated land means land used for
				growing crops, hay, pasture, and permanent pasture for the preceding two
				years.
(k) Department means the New
				York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.
(l) Farm woodland means any land of two acres
				of more which is used primarily for the production of woodland
				products.
(m) Land classification
				system means the system established by the commissioner incorporating soil
				productivity and capability for use by the State Board of Equalization and
				Assessment in determining agricultural value per acre, pursuant to section 304  of the Agriculture and Markets
				Law.
(n) Mineral soils means all
				those soils that do not meet the criteria for organic soils established by this
				Part.
(o) Nonagricultural land
				means land used for nonagricultural purposes.
(p) Organic soils means muck soils which
				consist of well-decomposed organic materials ranging in depth from 16 to 100
				inches located over mineral soil deposits. The classification of these soils is
				defined in Soil Taxonomy--A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and
				Interpreting Soil Surveys, U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation System, Agricultural
				Handbook No. 436.
(q) Soil
				capability means the physical ability of the soil to maintain agricultural
				production without sustaining damage to the soil structure of the surface layer
				while being adequately protected from erosion and other means of
				deterioration.
(r) Soil map means a
				map, on file with the county soil and water conservation district office,
				showing the distribution of soil mapping units in relation to the prominent
				physical and cultural features of the earth's surface.
(s) Soil map unit means the name of a
				specific kind of soil including its slope and other specific features as
				designated by a specific soil symbol on a soil map.
(t) Soil productivity means the average yield
				for a specified crop under a prudent system of management.
(u) Soil productivity index system means the
				system developed by Cornell University, Department of Agronomy, in cooperation
				with the U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, Syracuse, NY to be used to
				establish an individual soil's productivity rating.
(v) Soil scientist means a person having
				special knowledge of the physical, chemical and biological sciences applicable
				to the genesis and morphology of soils as natural bodies and of the methods to
				describe, classify and map soil units. This person must possess a minimum of
				two years experience in classifying and mapping soils and at least a bachelors
				degree, with 30 semester hours or equivalent in biology, physical science and
				earth science with a minimum of 15 semester hours in soil science. Individuals
				who do not meet the above minimum qualifications but who possess at least 10
				years experience mapping soils are qualified if they have completed at least 10
				semester hours in soil science.
(w)
				County soil and water conservation district means the district created pursuant
				to section 6  of the Soil and Water Conservation Districts
				Law.
(x) Total digestible nutrients
				(TDN) means a standard evaluation of the digestibility of a particular
				livestock feed, including all the digestible organic nutrients: protein, fiber,
				nitrogen-free extract, and fat.
(y)
				Universal soil loss equation means an equation used for the design of water
				erosion control systems. The equation is set forth in Agricultural Handbook
				#537--Predicting Rainfall Erosion Losses, Science and Education Administration,
				1978, as:
A = RK(LS)CP
wherein:
A = average annual soil loss in tons per acre per year
R = rainfall factor
K = soil erodibility factor
(L = length of slope and
S = percent of slope factor)
C = cropping and management factor
P = conservation practice factor