Twin Falls County, ID Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Adopted by Ordinance 290 on August 13, 2025, Twin Falls County's Agricultural Protection Area (APA) program at Title 8, Chapter 6, Article K gives farmers and timber producers a voluntary tool to lock their land into agricultural use. To qualify under § 8-6K-3, a parcel must be at least five contiguous acres, actively devoted to agriculture or forestry under Idaho Code §§ 63-604 and 63-1701, assessed by the County Assessor as agricultural or forest land, zoned to allow agricultural or forest use, free of any confined animal feeding operation, and outside any commercial or residential subdivision.

Applications go to the Agricultural Protection Area Commission (APAC), a three-to-five-member board of county residents active in production agriculture created under § 8-6K-4 pursuant to Idaho Code § 67-9705; the APAC reviews the application against criteria in § 8-6K-7, including proximity to city impact areas, planned transportation corridors and airport expansion, then makes a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners within 60 days. The Board holds a public hearing and must issue a written decision, with findings of fact, within another 60 days, and the executed decision is recorded with the county recorder within 10 days.

An APA designation lasts 20 years and renews automatically under § 8-6K-8 unless the landowner requests early termination for hardship under § 8-6K-10, such as a litigation loss, a family death causing financial hardship, or bankruptcy from another person's fraud. Once designated, § 8-6K-12 bars CAFOs, residential subdivisions, agricultural businesses in the agricultural zone, manufacturing land, Commercial or Industrial district uses, agri-solar, battery storage, wind and solar energy projects, and any other nonagricultural use unless the Board approves an exception. An application fee, set by the Board and posted with the Zoning Administrator, is required under § 8-6K-11.