Indiana's 2026 Farmland Base Rate Drop: Appeal Tactics for Ag Landowners

SB 1 included a two-year adjustment to Indiana's farmland base rate that saves farmers approximately $116 million statewide. The mechanic: the legislature directed the DLGF to use a lower base rate per acre than the formula otherwise would have produced. For an individual farm operator, that's headline relief — but it isn't the end of the AV story. Your specific parcel's AV still depends on soil productivity index, soil ratings, and influence factors, and the assessor's application of these is where farmland appeals are won or lost.

This is the tactical guide for Indiana ag landowners appealing 2026 farmland AVs. The base rate is what it is; the math after the base rate is where your money is.

How Indiana farmland is assessed

Indiana uses a use-value assessment for agricultural land, not market value. The formula:

Per-acre AV = Base rate × Soil productivity index × (1 + influence factor adjustments)

Each component:

Base rate — statewide per-acre dollar amount, set annually by the DLGF based on a 6-year capitalized net income formula. For 2026, the base rate is lower than the formula would otherwise have produced because of the SB 1 adjustment.
Soil productivity index — a multiplier based on the soil type(s) on your parcel, from a state-published table. Better soils have higher PIs (closer to 1.5+); poorer soils have lower PIs (0.5 or below).
Influence factors — adjustments (positive or negative) for specific parcel characteristics: drainage problems, frequent flooding, irregular shape, access issues, etc.

A typical Indiana farm parcel in 2026 might assess at $1,200–$2,500 per acre depending on soil. Compare to market value of $7,500–$15,000+ per acre — use-value is much lower than market value, which is the whole point of the agricultural assessment scheme.

What's on your farmland property record card

The county assessor maintains a property record card (PRC) for every farmland parcel. The PRC shows:

Total acreage by classification (tillable, woods, pasture, road right-of-way, homesite, etc.)
Per-classification AV with base rate, PI, and influence factors broken out
Soil map references showing which soil types cover the parcel, by acreage
Crops grown (sometimes, depending on county) and tillability assumptions

Pull yours through the Indiana property lookup or your county GIS portal. The PRC is the starting point for every farmland appeal.

Where farmland appeals are won

After tracking 2024 and 2025 farmland appeal outcomes across Indiana counties, the winning categories are:

1. Acreage misclassification

The most common winning appeal: the assessor has classified land as tillable that's actually:

Wooded
Pasture (lower-rate classification)
Wetland or floodway (often unclassified entirely)
Road right-of-way (excluded from agricultural AV)
Homesite or building site (assessed separately as residential)

Tillable land has higher AV than pasture or woods. Reclassifying acres reduces total AV proportionally.

Evidence: an aerial photo (the Indiana NAIP imagery is free) showing the actual land use. Drone photos work well. NRCS soil survey maps. Tile receipt or drainage records.

2. Soil rating corrections

The PRC may apply soil PIs that don't match the actual soil types on your parcel. NRCS soil surveys are the authoritative source; the assessor's PI assignment may use a different methodology or older survey data.

Evidence: NRCS Web Soil Survey report for the specific parcel. Often shows different soil distribution than the PRC. Differences of 0.1–0.2 in PI translate to 10–20% AV differences.

3. Influence factor application

Influence factors can be applied for negative attributes: persistent drainage problems, frequent flooding, irregular shape that limits efficient cultivation, slope, contamination, access issues. The assessor often doesn't apply these unless the owner raises them.

Evidence: FEMA floodplain maps (for flooding), drainage tile records or correspondence with the county drainage board, soil-mapped wetland delineation, photographs of standing water in late spring.

4. Homesite carve-out

The homesite (1 acre, typically) is assessed as residential, not agricultural. If the assessor has overstated the homesite acreage (carving out 2 or 3 acres at residential rates), reducing the homesite to a true 1 acre shifts more land to lower-AV agricultural classification.

Evidence: survey or measurement showing the actual house, yard, and outbuilding footprint.

5. Conservation easement or CRP enrollment

Land in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) or under a permanent conservation easement may have an influence factor adjustment. CRP land is not actively cultivated and may qualify for a lower-rate classification.

Evidence: CRP contract documents, conservation easement deed.

What doesn't work

The following are common but losing arguments:

"Farmland prices are too high so my AV should be too high" — incorrectly assumes market parity. Use-value is intentionally below market. Don't argue against the methodology.
"My neighbor's farm assesses lower" — uniformity arguments are weak without specific PI or classification evidence
"Land values are dropping" — only matters if your specific parcel's productivity changed, not the broader market
"I have crop failure / drought losses" — assessment year is fixed; year-specific income doesn't directly drive AV
"My PI is wrong because the soil is wet" — you need the NRCS survey showing the actual soil types; "wet" isn't a soil type

Worked example: a representative 160-acre Indiana farm

Take a hypothetical Hancock County farm. Initial PRC shows:

Component	PRC value
Total acres	160
Tillable	145
Wooded	8
Homesite	5
Roadway	2
Average PI	1.10
Base rate (2026)	$1,400
Per-acre AV (tillable)	$1,540
Total agricultural AV	$238,000 (rounded)

Owner pulls the NRCS soil survey and finds:

12 acres mapped as wetland (not tillable, lower PI)
Average PI on remaining tillable should be 1.05, not 1.10
Homesite is actually 1 acre, not 5

Revised PRC after appeal:

Component	Revised value
Tillable	133 (down 12)
Wetland (new lower-rate classification)	12
Wooded	8
Homesite	1
Roadway	2
Average tillable PI	1.05
Per-acre AV (tillable)	$1,470
Tillable AV	$195,510
Wetland AV at lower rate	$5,000
Total agricultural AV	~$200,510

Result: $37,000+ AV reduction, translating to roughly $400–$600 in annual tax savings depending on the county's farmland tax rate. The cost of the appeal: a few hours' work pulling the NRCS survey and drafting the Form 130.

Tip

The most leverage in farmland appeals is typically acreage misclassification, not soil PI disputes. PI disputes are technical and require NRCS evidence; acreage disputes can be supported with aerial photos and are visible to the assessor immediately.

Timing and deadlines

Indiana farmland follows the same Form 130 timeline as residential and commercial:

Form 11 notice mails in spring (timing varies by county; some late winter, some mid-spring)
45 days to file Form 130
June 15 is the typical statewide cutoff
Informal conference with the county assessor 30–60 days post-filing
PTABOA hearing 90–180 days post-filing if no informal resolution

For 2026 farmland appeals, most county deadlines have already passed or are imminent. Check your specific county Form 11 mail date.

Multi-year strategy

Farmland AVs typically don't change dramatically year over year (use-value is more stable than market value). A successful appeal in 2026 often produces a settled PRC that carries forward through subsequent assessment cycles — the corrections you make now reduce AV for many years.

Two related considerations:

2027 reassessment counties — if your county is on the 2027 cyclical reassessment schedule, the assessor will revisit all parcels. A 2026 stipulated reduction may need to be re-defended in 2027.
Trending years — between full reassessment cycles, the assessor applies a trending factor. The base rate adjustment from SB 1 affects the trending denominator, so multi-year math compounds.

What to do

Pull your property record card from your county assessor portal.
Pull the NRCS Web Soil Survey for your parcel. Compare soil types and acreages to the PRC.
Pull aerial imagery (Google Earth Pro, county GIS, or NAIP). Identify mis-classified acres (tillable that should be wetland, woods, etc.).
Identify influence factors that apply but aren't on the PRC (drainage problems, flood risk, irregular shape).
File a Form 130 if your county deadline hasn't passed. If it has, file a Form 133 for factual corrections.