CAUV is Ohio's Current Agricultural Use Value program. Qualifying farmland is taxed on its farm-use value instead of its full market value, which usually means a materially lower property-tax bill. The Ohio Revised Code section 5713.30 and the Ohio Department of Taxation set the mechanics; the county auditor administers enrollment and the CAUV value on your bill. To qualify, the parcel generally needs to have been in commercial agricultural production for the three tax years before enrollment, and to stay in a qualifying use going forward.

How is my CAUV value calculated?

The Ohio Department of Taxation publishes a soil-value table by year and by soil type; the county auditor applies those values to the mix of soils on your parcel to produce your CAUV assessed value. Scout does not use the auditor's assessed figure directly (there is no clean statewide feed of it today); instead, Scout MODELS a per-parcel CAUV value by multiplying the ODT table by the parcel's SSURGO productivity index. That modeled figure is always labeled an estimate, never a tax bill; the county auditor's assessed value on your actual bill supersedes it whenever you have that number in hand.

What happens to CAUV when farmland goes to solar?

A utility-scale solar array is not a qualifying agricultural use, so the acres come out of CAUV and Ohio recoups the tax break. Under ORC 5713.34, the county invoices a charge equal to the CAUV tax savings from the three years before the conversion. By default that invoice goes to the landowner. A well-written solar lease shifts it to the developer, in writing, before you sign. The deep-dive page on recoupment, SB 52 township siting, and the PILOT is at /cauv-solar-recoupment-ohio/.

Guides

Ohio CAUV: enrollment vs value, and what solar does to it

Ohio's Current Agricultural Use Value program does two different things, and they get talked about as if they were the same thing. Whether a parcel is enrolled in CAUV is a yes-or-no fact from the county auditor. What the CAUV value reads for the parcel is a per-acre dollar figure that Scout models from published state inputs, and labels an estimate. This page separates the two, then explains what a solar lease does to both. General information, not legal or tax advice.

Reviewed September 2026. Ohio Revised Code and ODT rules can change; verify current statute and county practice before acting.

Not legal or tax advice

Nothing on this page is legal or tax advice. Ohio CAUV rules are set by the Ohio Revised Code (chapter 5713), administered by county auditors, and interpreted case-by-case. Bring the specifics to the county auditor's office and a farm-savvy Ohio attorney.

Enrollment vs value: two different facts

Question	CAUV enrollment	CAUV value
What it is	A binary yes/no: is this parcel currently enrolled in CAUV	A per-acre modeled dollar figure (ODT soil-value tables × SSURGO productivity)
Who sets it	The county auditor, on the OGRIP StateLUC layer	The Ohio Department of Taxation publishes the soil-value inputs; the parcel-level value is modeled, never assessed
Authority	Authoritative. The county record IS the answer	An estimate, labeled as such on every Scout surface, never presented as an assessed value
When to trust the number	Always. Use it as-is.	As a planning band, not a tax bill. The county auditor's CAUV assessed figure supersedes it when you have it.

Enrollment on a specific parcel is reported by Scout directly from the OGRIP StateLUC layer maintained by county auditors. The CAUV value on a Scout report is modeled from the Ohio Department of Taxation soil-value table and the parcel's SSURGO productivity index, and is labeled an estimate.

How CAUV enrollment works

Enrollment is a yes-or-no fact. The county auditor administers it; Ohio Revised Code sections 5713.30 through 5713.38 set the rules. To qualify, a parcel must have been in commercial agricultural use for the three tax years before enrollment (there is a separate path for tracts under ten acres based on gross farm income), and it must stay in a qualifying use going forward. The county auditor's CAUV designation flows through Ohio's OGRIP StateLUC layer, which Scout reads directly for Ohio parcels. If Scout shows a parcel as CAUV-enrolled, it is; that is the authoritative record, and it needs no modeling.

How CAUV value is calculated (and modeled)

The Ohio Department of Taxation publishes a soil-value table by year and soil type. The county auditor applies those values to the mix of soils on your parcel to produce the CAUV assessed value that lands on your bill. That mix is not published in a clean statewide feed today, so Scout takes a different path: it multiplies the same ODT soil-value table by the parcel's SSURGO productivity index, producing a modeled per-acre CAUV value. That figure is always labeled an estimate on Scout surfaces, never presented as an assessed value. If you have the county auditor's actual assessed figure for the parcel, use that in place of the modeled number; the auditor's record supersedes any modeling.

What a solar lease does to CAUV

Utility-scale solar is not a qualifying agricultural use. Converting acres from farm use to a solar array takes those acres out of CAUV, and Ohio recoups the tax break the parcel received. Under ORC 5713.34 the county invoices a charge equal to the CAUV tax savings from the three tax years before conversion. By default that invoice goes to the landowner. A carefully-written solar lease shifts it to the developer, but that shift has to be in the lease before signing. This is one of the highest-stakes clauses in an Ohio solar lease.

The recoupment invoice size is real. In January 2024, Highland County invoiced $373,578 in recoupment across 4,487 acres taken out of CAUV for solar development. The recoupment mechanic, the SB 52 township siting rules, and the PILOT that can accompany a utility-scale project are covered in the deep-dive at CAUV solar recoupment in Ohio. If you are weighing a developer's solar offer on Ohio ground, that page is the next read.

Ohio CAUV: common questions

What is Ohio CAUV?: CAUV is Ohio's Current Agricultural Use Value program. Qualifying farmland is taxed on its farm-use value instead of its full market value, which usually means a materially lower property-tax bill. The Ohio Revised Code section 5713.30 and the Ohio Department of Taxation set the mechanics; the county auditor administers enrollment and the CAUV value on your bill. To qualify, the parcel generally needs to have been in commercial agricultural production for the three tax years before enrollment, and to stay in a qualifying use going forward.
How is my CAUV value calculated?: The Ohio Department of Taxation publishes a soil-value table by year and by soil type; the county auditor applies those values to the mix of soils on your parcel to produce your CAUV assessed value. Scout does not use the auditor's assessed figure directly (there is no clean statewide feed of it today); instead, Scout MODELS a per-parcel CAUV value by multiplying the ODT table by the parcel's SSURGO productivity index. That modeled figure is always labeled an estimate, never a tax bill; the county auditor's assessed value on your actual bill supersedes it whenever you have that number in hand.
What happens to CAUV when farmland goes to solar?: A utility-scale solar array is not a qualifying agricultural use, so the acres come out of CAUV and Ohio recoups the tax break. Under ORC 5713.34, the county invoices a charge equal to the CAUV tax savings from the three years before the conversion. By default that invoice goes to the landowner. A well-written solar lease shifts it to the developer, in writing, before you sign. The deep-dive page on recoupment, SB 52 township siting, and the PILOT is at /cauv-solar-recoupment-ohio/.

Enrolled or not, valued at what.

Type an Ohio address. Scout reads the county auditor's CAUV enrollment flag and publishes a modeled CAUV value per acre for your parcel.

Free to start on any Ohio parcel.