Legal Definitions - agistment

Agistment

Agistment refers to a legal arrangement where one person pays a fee to another for the temporary care and feeding of their livestock. This typically involves allowing the animals to graze on the other person's land, providing pasturage and basic animal husbandry services.

Here are some examples:

• Scenario 1: Drought Relief for Cattle
  A cattle rancher in a region experiencing a severe drought finds their own pastures are insufficient to feed their herd. They enter into an agreement with a neighboring landowner who has ample grazing land. The rancher pays a monthly fee per head of cattle to allow their herd to graze on the neighbor's property for a specified period until their own pastures recover.
  • Explanation: This is an example of agistment because the rancher is paying a fee to the neighbor for the temporary care and feeding (through grazing) of their cattle on the neighbor's land. The neighbor is providing the service of pasturage.
• Scenario 2: Horse Boarding with Pasture Access
  A horse owner lives in a residential area without enough land to keep their horse. They contract with a local equestrian center to board their horse. The boarding agreement includes access to large, fenced pastures where the horse can graze daily, in addition to stable care, all for a monthly fee.
  • Explanation: This arrangement constitutes agistment because the equestrian center is providing the service of pasturage and care for the horse on its property in exchange for regular payment from the owner.
• Scenario 3: Seasonal Sheep Grazing
  A sheep farmer needs to move their flock to different pastures for seasonal grazing, but their usual summer grazing land is temporarily unavailable due to environmental restoration efforts. They arrange with another farmer in a different valley to take in their flock for the summer months, paying a per-animal rate for the use of the second farmer's extensive fields.
  • Explanation: This situation demonstrates agistment as the first farmer is paying the second farmer to temporarily house and feed their sheep on the second farmer's land, providing essential grazing services for a fee.