Farm Leadership
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What Happens If I Don’t Know My Cost Basis
We had a reader ask the following question: “How do you prove what you paid for an land asset that is subject to capital gain purchased long ago if no records exist? The land deed only shows the deed tax paid at the recorders office with no stated value.” Although the requirement for keeping records […]
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Think About Paying a Tax Estimate on January 17, 2012!
With most farmers net income for 2o11 being most likely higher than 2010, you may want to consider paying a tax estimate payment on January 17, 2012 to give you until April 15, 2012 to file your return. Most farmers try to get their tax return filed by March 1 of each year. If a […]
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DTN AG Summit – Day 2
I have already written a previous post on one of the first sessions at DTN AG Summit yesterday, but here is my recap of the rest of the day. The president of International Farming Corporation gave a presentation on their efforts to both create long-term value to their investors and their tenant farmers. This is […]
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It May Be More Important To Not Overpay for Land Than Have Too Much Leverage
Two speakers from Kansas State Univeristy indicated that overpaying for land in their analysis was more likely to be more harmful to a farm operation than having too much leverage. Their bottom line objectives for their land buying decisions in 2011 is that the perceived land rent value should be at least 4.50% of the […]
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Some Questions on Section 179
We had a reader ask the following question: “Do I have to take 100% of the cost of property when oping for the section 179 depreciation, or am I also allowed to take any % less and then use normal depreciation for the remainder? Also if it is placed in service in 2011 and paid […]
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Might Not Pay To Do An Equipment Trade-In!
Most farmers automatically assume that it is always better to trade-in their farm equipment to save on income taxes. However, for 2011, if your total farm equipment purchases is going to be less than $500,000, then in most cases it would almost always be better to sell your farm equipment for cash and then buy equipment […]
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Don’t Forget The New Veteran’s Credit
A new tax credit for farms that hire unemployed veterans is in effect now the President Obama has signed the legislation officially eliminating the 3% withholding on government contractors that was scheduled to begin in 2013. I think I have seen more laws get initiated and eliminated in the last 3 years than I ever […]
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Executive Women in Agriculture Conference – Recap
After a long flight home Friday night, I have had a couple of days to reflect on the the First Annual Conference for Executive Women in Agriculture and here are my conclusions: American Agribusiness should be proud of the women who are active in running a farm or an agribusiness. Based upon the women that […]
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Executive Women in Agriculture – Day 1
I was an attendee at the First Annual Top Producer conference for Executive Women in Agriculture in Chicago. There were well over 100 women executives in attendance and the speakers lined up for today were outstanding. American agriculture is well represented by these woman executives and I look forward to more getting involved in the […]
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New Tax Education Program for Farmers
The USDA-Risk Management Agency (RMA) in conjunction with several Universities has just announced a new site for financial and tax information for farmers. The site is located at www.ruraltax.org. The site is comprised of: Tax Topics Sample Farm Tax Return Small Farm Tax Guide Links Plus some information on who has contributed to the site and […]