June, 2016
-
New Overtime Rules Update
Last week, we did a post on the new overtime rules. Some of the wording may have been a little vague, so we are updating via this post. First, an agricultural worker is not required to be paid “overtime”; however, the worker is required to be paid for any hours worked by the employee. If […]
-
Will Your Farm Losses be Limited?
A few years back, Congress passed a new law limiting farm losses if the farmer received an “applicable subsidy” or got a Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loan. If the rules applied, the farmer could only deduct the greater of: $300,000, or Total net farm profits over the last 5 years These rules applied to all […]
-
Farm Debt is Growing
The Kansas City Fed just released a report indicating that farm debt is accumulating at a faster pace. Farmers with carryover debt increased from 18% of loans to 29% of loans in the first quarter of 2016. Also, 18% of total loans made in the first quarter involved restructuring existing debt to meet short-term liquidity […]
-
Will You Need to Pay Overtime for Your Farm Employees?
Most farmers assume that they are not required to pay overtime for any farm work performed by their employees. Although this is correct, we need to make sure that farmers understand what work is exempt under the Agricultural Work exemption and what work might be exempt under other provisions. This blog post is not designed […]
-
LLC Does Not Provide Legal Protection (if you mess up)
Many farmers have created limited liability companies (LLC) to hold equipment, especially semi tractors and trailers. The assumption is that by putting these assets into a LLC, the farmer is shielded from any legal liability in case of an accident. The answer, like most questions I get, is it depends. If the farmer runs the […]