Legal Definitions - agist

To agist means to permit another person's livestock or animals to graze on your land in exchange for a fee. This arrangement typically involves the landowner providing the grazing space, and the animal owner paying for the use of that land.

• Example 1: A large cattle rancher, Ms. Rodriguez, has more grazing land than her own herd requires for the summer season. Mr. Chen, a smaller cattle owner, needs additional pasture for his young steers to grow. Ms. Rodriguez agrees to allow Mr. Chen's steers to graze on her unused fields for a set monthly fee per animal.

  Explanation: In this scenario, Ms. Rodriguez is said to agist Mr. Chen's steers because she is providing her land for his animals to graze upon in return for payment.

• Example 2: A private horse owner, Sarah, needs to rest her own pastures for several weeks to allow them to recover and regrow after heavy use. She contacts a local farm that has several acres of unused fields suitable for horses. The farm owner agrees to let Sarah's horses graze there temporarily.

  Explanation: The farm owner agists Sarah's horses by allowing them to use their land for grazing, and Sarah pays a weekly fee for this service until her own pastures are ready again.

• Example 3: A sheep farmer, David, experiences an unusually dry spring, and his usual grazing fields are not producing enough forage for his flock. He arranges with a neighboring landowner, who has lush, irrigated fields, for his sheep to graze there for a few weeks until his own fields recover.

  Explanation: The neighboring landowner agists David's sheep by granting them access to their land for grazing in exchange for a negotiated daily rate, helping David manage his flock during a period of scarcity on his own property.