What Are the Rules for Farm Use Tags in West Virginia?

Farm use tags in West Virginia are not license plates. They are a windshield decal and a paper certificate issued by your county assessor under West Virginia Code §17A-3-2, and they let a qualifying agricultural vehicle operate without standard DMV registration for a one-time $2 fee. The trade-off is a narrow set of rules about who can hold one, how the vehicle must be marked, where you can drive it, and what it can be used for. Break any of those rules and the vehicle is treated, in practice, as unregistered.

What a Farm Use Tag Actually Is

West Virginia treats agricultural vehicles two different ways, and the distinction matters before anything else. A vehicle that qualifies as an implement of husbandry under §17A-3-2 is exempt from registration and titling. It never gets a traditional plate. Instead, the county assessor issues a farm use exemption certificate and a decal. Road use is limited to crossing a highway or traveling along a highway other than an expressway, and only for agricultural purposes on land the owner or lessee farms.¹

The other route is Class X farm truck registration under §17A-10-3. Class X trucks carry real plates, pay annual fees based on declared gross weight, and can move agricultural products on public roads more broadly. If your operation regularly hauls to market, moves equipment between distant properties, or picks up supplies from distributors on the highway, Class X is the right category, not the farm use exemption.²

Which Vehicles Qualify

The exemption applies to implements of husbandry used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes on land owned or leased by the vehicle’s owner. The DMV’s application form (DMV-67) says qualifying vehicles are ones that, absent the farm use, would otherwise need registration as a Class A vehicle (pickup truck under 10,000 pounds) or a Class B vehicle (truck or tractor-trailer combination at 10,001 pounds and over).³

The vehicle has to serve a direct role in the farming operation. Tractors, sprayer trucks, feed haulers, and similar equipment fit. A pickup used half the time for personal errands does not. The statute ties the exemption to agricultural use on the owner’s or lessee’s land, so off-farm commercial hauling and general personal transportation fall outside it.¹

How to Get One

The application runs through your county assessor, not the DMV directly. You will need to:

Complete Form DMV-67. Only one vehicle can be certified per form, and you supply make, model year, and VIN.
Certify that a motor vehicle liability insurance policy is currently in effect on the vehicle.
Take the form and a $2 fee (cash, check, or money order) to the assessor’s office in your county of residence.
Receive the farm use exemption decal, and affix it to the inside lower driver-side corner of the windshield. Keep a copy of the approved application for your records.

The $2 fee is one of the cheapest vehicle designations available anywhere in the country, which is part of why enforcement of the eligibility rules is taken seriously.³

How the Vehicle Must Be Marked

Two things must be visible on any farm use vehicle. First, the words “FARM USE” have to appear on both sides of the vehicle in letters at least ten inches tall. Second, the county-issued decal must be displayed on the inside lower driver-side corner of the windshield. A vehicle missing either identifier can be treated as unregistered during a traffic stop, because those markings are what tell an officer the vehicle is exempt rather than simply unplated.³

Where You Can Drive

This is where farmers most often lose the exemption. A farm use tag is not a general-purpose credential with reduced fees. The statute limits road travel to crossing a highway or traveling along a highway other than an expressway, and only for agricultural purposes tied to land the owner or lessee farms. Running to the hardware store for building materials, driving into town for groceries, or any personal errand puts the vehicle outside the exemption. Expressways are off limits entirely.¹

The exemption works best for vehicles that stay on or near the farm and only touch public roads incidentally. If your work requires more than that, Class X registration is the fit.

Insurance and Safety Inspection

The farm use exemption does not exempt you from carrying insurance. The DMV-67 application requires the applicant to certify that a motor vehicle liability policy is in effect on the vehicle, and West Virginia law requires insurance on any vehicle operating on public roads.³⁴

Annual safety inspection is different. Under West Virginia Code §17C-16-4, Class A farm use vehicles that are exempt from registration are also exempt from the mandatory annual inspection. An owner may still request a voluntary inspection, and if the vehicle passes, the superintendent issues a certificate of inspection.⁵

Dyed Diesel and Farm Vehicles

Farm equipment commonly runs on dyed diesel, which is tax-exempt fuel intended for off-road use. Because a farm use vehicle spends most of its time on the farm, it is a natural fit for dyed fuel. The problem is that the same vehicle is allowed to touch public roads under the exemption, and West Virginia Code §11-14-17 flatly prohibits operating any motor vehicle on a public highway with dyed diesel in the tank.

The state penalty for the first two violations in a calendar year is $10 per gallon of fuel tank capacity or $1,000, whichever is greater. After that it climbs to $15 per gallon or $2,000, whichever is greater. The exceptions are narrow: fuel bought out of state in a jurisdiction that allows dyed diesel on highways, or uses that are lawful under the Internal Revenue Code.⁶

The IRS layers a federal penalty on top: the greater of $1,000 or $10 per gallon of dyed fuel involved, increasing with repeat violations, plus any excise tax owed on the fuel. A single stop can trigger both.⁷

CDL Rules for Farm Vehicle Drivers

Farmers driving larger trucks that would normally require a commercial driver’s license can use two separate exemptions, one state and one federal.

The West Virginia Exemption

Under West Virginia Code §17E-1-8, bona fide farmers and farm vehicle drivers are exempt from CDL requirements if all four conditions are met: the vehicle is driven by a farmer or farm vehicle driver, used only to transport agricultural products or farm machinery and supplies, not used as a common or contract carrier, and operated within 150 miles of the qualifying farm. To use it, you apply to the DMV for a certificate of exemption.⁸

Federal Covered Farm Vehicles

Federal law creates a broader “covered farm vehicle” category under 49 CFR §390.39. A straight truck or tractor-trailer qualifies if it is owned or operated by a farmer or rancher, used to transport farm supplies or agricultural commodities, and traveling within 150 air miles of the farm’s home base. Vehicles hauling placardable quantities of hazardous materials do not qualify.⁹

Weight controls how far the exemption reaches. At a gross vehicle weight or rating of 26,001 pounds or less, the covered farm vehicle exemptions apply anywhere in the United States. Above that weight, they are limited to the state of registration or within 150 air miles across state lines. A covered farm vehicle and its driver are exempt from CDL requirements, drug and alcohol testing, physical qualification exams, hours-of-service rules, and federal inspection and maintenance requirements.¹⁰

Drivers hauling agricultural commodities within 150 air miles of the commodity’s source are not subject to hours-of-service regulations at all, which means no driving-hour limits and no electronic logging device requirement. Cross that radius and standard hours-of-service rules apply, with logs required.¹¹

What Happens If You Misuse the Tag

A vehicle operating under the farm use exemption that does not meet the eligibility rules is effectively unregistered on public roads. West Virginia treats driving an unregistered vehicle as a violation that can result in fines and the vehicle being pulled from the road. Providing false information on the DMV-67 carries additional risk, because the application is signed under penalty of false swearing.³

Law enforcement can stop any vehicle displaying farm use markings and verify that it is being used for legitimate agricultural purposes. What the file does not contain is a specific fine schedule for farm tag misuse; readers should not rely on figures they may see repeated elsewhere without confirming them against current statute.

Records Worth Keeping in the Vehicle

Because the burden of proving eligibility falls on the owner, a few habits go a long way. Keep a copy of the approved DMV-67 in the vehicle at all times. Keep your Schedule F or other proof of agricultural income accessible. Make sure liability insurance stays current, and if you lease the farmland, keep the lease agreement on file. None of this is legally required to carry in the truck, but any of it can turn a roadside question into a two-minute verification instead of a citation.

1
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 17A-3-2
2
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 17A-10-3
3
WV Division of Motor Vehicles. Application for Farm Use Vehicle Exemption Certificate
4
WV Division of Motor Vehicles. Consumer Insurance Information
5
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 17C-16-4
6
Justia. West Virginia Code 11-14-17 – No Dyed Fuel on Highways
7
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 510 (12/2025), Excise Taxes
8
West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 17E-1-8
9
eCFR. 49 CFR 390.39 – Definitions and General Requirements
10
Federal Register. Transportation of Agricultural Commodities
11
FMCSA. ELD Hours of Service (HOS) and Agriculture Exemptions