Agistment originally referred specifically to the proceeds of pasturage in the king's forests. To agist is, in

English law English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, b ...

, to take

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

to graze, in exchange for payment (derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

''giste'', ''gite'', a "lying place").

History

Agistment originally referred specifically to the proceeds of pasturage in the king's forests in England, but now means either: # the

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

for taking in and feeding horses or cattle on

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

land, for the consideration of a periodic payment of money; # the profit derived from such pasturing. Agistment involves a contract of bailment, and the bailee must take reasonable care of the animals entrusted to him; he is responsible for damages and injury which result from ordinary casualties, if it be proved that such might have been prevented by the exercise of great care. There is no lien on the cattle for the price of the agistment unless by express agreement. Under the Agricultural Holdings Act of 1883, agisted cattle cannot be distrained on for rent if there be other sufficient distress to be found, and if such other distress be not found, and the cattle be distrained, the owner may redeem them on paying the price of their agistment. The

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

of agistment or "tithe of cattle and other produce of grass lands" was formally abolished in Great Britain by the Act of Union in 1707, on a motion submitted with a view to defeat that measure. Agistment tithe continued in Ireland, but was opposed by landlords who had converted holdings from tillage to pasture, who secured a 1736 resolution of the

House of Commons of Ireland The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...

opposing the levying of agistment tithe on "dry and barren cattle". Although this was not enshrined in statute law until just before the Acts of Union 1800, nevertheless it provided sufficient cover for widespread refusal to pay.

Current usage

England (New Forest)

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, agisters were formerly the officers of the forest empowered to collect the agistment. They have been re-established in the New Forest to carry out the daily duties of administering the forest.

Australia and New Zealand

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, agistment is commonly used during times of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

; livestock from a drought-affected property can be agisted on a drought-free property elsewhere in the country. The livestock may travel to the alternate pasture by truck or by travelling stock route. Agistment can also refer, in both Australia and New Zealand, to places such as farms, paddocks, or studs where the owners of horses can pay to have their animals looked after and allowed to graze ('full agistment') or where grazing only is offered ('part agistment').

United States and Canada

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, the term agister is used in raw milk herdshare agreements to refer to the person hired to provide agistment services for owners of the herd animals.; ; . In the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

, agisters are landholders who offer pasturage services, or who seek to enforce agistment lien commitments.

Notes

References

* * * * * * Attribution: *{{EB1911 , wstitle=Agistment , volume=1 , page=377 Animal law English forest law English legal terminology