Is building a livestock farm on agricultural land an illegal structure? Zhongshi Legal Opinion

Agricultural land refers to land used for agricultural production, including cultivated land, garden land, forest land, pasture land, livestock and poultry rearing land, facility agricultural land, rural roads, pond and pit water surfaces, and other agricultural land. Recently, a netizen consulted Zhongshi Land Expropriation and Demolition Lawyers: "Is building a livestock farm on agricultural land an illegal structure?"

According to Article 43 of the Land Administration Law, any unit or individual that needs to use land for construction must apply to use state-owned land in accordance with the law; however, an exception is made for the establishment of township and village enterprises and the construction of residential housing by villagers using land collectively owned by farmers of the collective economic organization upon lawful approval, or for the construction of township (town) and village public facilities and public welfare undertakings using land collectively owned by farmers upon lawful approval. In addition, according to Article 125 of the Property Law, a holder of contracted land management rights enjoys the rights to possess, use, and benefit from the cultivated land, forest land, grassland, etc. under their contracted management in accordance with the law, and has the right to engage in agricultural production such as planting, forestry, and animal husbandry.

Therefore, where a farm owner has obtained a lawful contracted land management rights certificate, the act of building agriculture-related facilities on the land for breeding purposes is a lawful act of engaging in agricultural production and business activities, and they enjoy the right to engage in animal husbandry as an agricultural production and business activity in accordance with the law. This is the basic guarantee provided by the Land Administration Law, the Property Law, and the relevant provisions of the Ministry of Land and Resources for farmers developing agriculture as a foundational industry. It stands to reason that if farmers did not build agriculture-related facilities on agricultural land, it would be impossible for them to carry out basic management of animal husbandry such as poultry and livestock.

According to the Current Land Use Classification (GB/T 21010-2007), facility agricultural land refers to: land for production facilities directly used for commercial breeding such as livestock and poultry sheds, factory-based crop cultivation or aquaculture, and corresponding ancillary facility land, as well as agricultural facility land such as drying yards outside rural residential land. In addition, according to the Notice of the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture on Improving the Management of Facility Agricultural Land, building agricultural facilities that occupy agricultural land does not require going through the approval procedures for converting agricultural land, nor does it require going through the approval procedures for construction land. The act of a farmer building temporary breeding facilities on contracted land falls under the category of agricultural facilities directly used for livestock and poultry sheds, and does not require obtaining a construction project planning permit in accordance with the law. Many administrative organs, especially planning and construction departments, exceed the provisions of the Land Administration Law, the Property Law, and other laws by additionally requiring farmers to obtain administrative permits, which constitutes an abuse of power beyond what the law provides. According to the above legal provisions, the act of a farmer building agriculture-related facilities does not require the prerequisite procedure of obtaining a construction project planning permit.

In summary, the act of a farmer building a livestock farm on agricultural land to engage in breeding is a welfare-oriented or policy-based measure by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Land and Resources to encourage agricultural development. It is policy support aimed at encouraging villagers to develop economic industries on the premise of agriculture as a foundational industry. Therefore, it is inadvisable for planning and construction departments to uniformly treat livestock farms as illegal structures and demolish them.

This article is excerpted from: Zhongshi Land Expropriation and Demolition Lawyers. If there is any infringement, please contact us for deletion.