Is it protest worthy? TB Baba Batra 36

 Someone squatting on another person’s land for three or more years doesn’t prove ownership. That person has to establish some kind of claim (ta’ana-טענה) like I bought the property, I inherited the property, or I receive the property as a gift and he must use it during those three years. Next the original owner has to protest (makha-ah-מחאה) sometime during those three years to invalidate the claim. Today’s daf TB Baba Batra 36 teaches that the land has to be worthy of protestation for the presumption ownership, hazakah-חזקה, to work. If the land is not protest worthy, there is no hazakah.

“And Rav Yehuda says: With regard to one who profited from the land by consuming produce from the first three years after it was planted [orla], during which time one is prohibited from deriving benefit from the produce, this conduct is not sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership. This is also taught in a baraita: With regard to one who profited from the land by consuming orla produce, or profited from the land by consuming produce of the Sabbatical Year, or consumed produce that was prohibited as it was of diverse kinds, this conduct is not sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership.” (Sefaria.org translation) Since no one is allowed to eat orla produce, or profited from the land by consuming produce of the Sabbatical Year, or consumed produce that was prohibited as it was of diverse kinds, the original owner doesn’t feel the need to protest; consequently, this conduct is insufficient to establish presumptive ownership.”

Here is another example. “Rav Naḥman says: Consumption of produce of land that is fissured is not sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership. This is due to the fact that produce does not grow well there, and therefore, owners do not bother to protest if a trespasser uses the land. Therefore, their silence should not be understood as an admission that it belongs to the possessor. Similarly, consumption of produce of land where one expends a kor of seed to sow and retrieves a kor of produce when harvesting it, is not sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership. Here, too, the owners do not bother to protest, as the land is of inferior quality.” (Sefaria.org translation) In other words, this land is not protest worthy.