The Kansas Agricultural Exemption for Farm Buildings | What Qualifies, County by County, Around Topeka

What K.S.A. 19-2921 and 12-758 Say About Farm Buildings

We read the statute before the county form, because the form only applies it. K.S.A. 19-2921 (county zoning) and K.S.A. 12-758(b) (the current planning and zoning act) say, in substance, that except for floodplain regulations in designated floodplain areas, zoning regulations do not apply to the use of land for agricultural purposes, "nor for the erection or maintenance of buildings thereon for such purposes so long as such land and buildings erected thereon are used for agricultural purposes and not otherwise."

We read three tests in that sentence. The land has to be in agricultural use, the building has to be put up for that use, and the use has to continue, which is the work the words "and not otherwise" do. A building that passes all three on the day it is finished can lose the exemption later.

Kansas AG Opinion 2016-10 carried the reasoning into construction codes: a county may not require a building used solely for agriculture to comply with county construction codes. It may require a prior determination that the building is exempt, but once that is made it may not require plan approval or a building permit. With no statewide building code, that is often our whole approval.

Floodplain Rules Apply to Exempt Barns Too

We check the flood map on every farm parcel, because both statutes carve floodplain regulations out of the exemption. Kansas floodplain rules meet the federal NFIP minimums and are approved by the chief engineer at the Kansas Department of Agriculture (K.S.A. 12-766). Under K.A.R. 5-44-4, development in a mapped floodplain needs a floodplain development permit from the local floodplain administrator, ag buildings included.

A nonresidential building there has to be elevated or dry floodproofed to 1 foot above the base flood elevation, with floodproofing certified by an engineer or architect. On river-bottom parcels we pull the flood map first and plan the elevation, fill and permit before the layout is final.

Buildings That Qualify and Buildings That Usually Do Not

We start from the state's own definition. K.S.A. 74-7003(a) defines an agricultural building as one that houses hay, grain, poultry, livestock or horticultural products or stores farm implements, and excludes places of human habitation, workplaces that process or package farm products, and buildings for public use. The same law, K.S.A. 74-7031(b) and 74-7033(b), exempts farm buildings from licensed design. We still order engineered truss drawings for every building, because the exemption leaves the wind and snow unchanged.

• Usually qualifies: hay and grain barns, machine sheds, livestock barns, horse barns on an operating farm
• Usually does not: hobby or vehicle shops, RV storage, detached garages, barndominiums or anything with living quarters
• Depends on the facts: a barn with a farm office, a farm stand, a horse facility that boards or teaches the public
• Never covered: floodplain permits

When a Farm Building Changes Use

We plan for the day the use changes, because the statute's test runs as long as the building stands. A machine shed that becomes a rental shop, a hay barn turned into a wedding venue or a horse barn that gains an apartment is no longer used for agriculture and not otherwise. Douglas County spells it out: a change of use requires a building permit and professional qualification of the structure.

A building designed to Risk Category I farm loads may also fall short once people work in it, so when an owner expects a change we design to Category II now, which costs far less than a retrofit. Our wind and design load guide explains the categories.