SpaceX is hiring a farmer

[billh]

Darn, the first SpaceX job I am mostly qualified for but I live (and farmed) in NJ not Texas!  I spent a good portion of my youth farming soybeans... until the grain embargo on the Soviet Union and some family business hijinks sunk us.   This is absolutely for the tax breaks.  If SpaceX buys say 1000 acres of land but doesn't intend on developing a test facility or launch site or office complex for the next 5 years, in order for the land to stay zoned "agricultural" there must be a working farm which produces a certain percentage of the property's income from agricultural activity.  The tax break probably outweighs the income from leasing the land to another farmer, which is why he will become a SpaceX employee.  The income from the crop must go into SpaceX's coffers.  If Texas tax laws are similar to the ones up here, land leased for agriculture is taxed higher than land used by the owner to grow crops himself.  My cousin leases his 80 acres to another farmer but pays higher taxes on the property than when we farmed it as a family business.   

Texas law is a little more liberal. You don't have to be a farmer, or gain a certain amount of income from the land. Generally, you qualify for the exemption if:

1. The land is currently devoted principally to agricultural use, to a degree of intensity that is typical in the area.
2. It must have been used for agriculture or timber production for any five of the preceding seven years.
3. It must not be owned by a foreigner (but it can be owned by a corporation).
4. It's not inside the city limits (in which case, more stringent conditions apply).

Under these conditions, the land is appraised based on its productive capacity in agricultural use, rather than its market price. This generally results in a substantially lower appraisal, and thus provides a significant tax break.

More info: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/pdf/96-300.pdf