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FSA Extends Deadline (But Only a Week)
As expected (but not necessarily hoped for), the FSA announced today an extension of one week to sign up for ARC or PLC. Instead of March 31, the new deadline is now April 7. The FSA essentially did the same thing with the Dairy Margin Program with an one week extension, so this was not […]
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1,400 Joint Operations to Lose $50 million of Program Payments?
The FSA just issued proposed Regulations yesterday regarding the active involvement of non-family members in a farm operation. The Farm Bill had required FSA to come up with these new rules within six months of the passage of the bill. And as usual, they are late. These new rules do not apply to a farm […]
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Tax Court Allows $11 Million Horse Loss to Stand
The US Tax Court in the Metz case released yesterday allowed taxpayers who had claimed over $11 million of losses related to a horse farm to stand. As we have previously discussed, the Tax Court reviews 9 tests in any case with possible hobby ramifications. If the “business” is deemed to be a hobby, then […]
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Where Do They Get These Numbers?
The Washington Post had an editorial on Sunday blasting the Farm Bill for being more costly than the old farm bill in some cases. However, in my opinion, their view is very slanted toward just this year and clearly reflects wrong numbers in their analysis. They indicate that many corn farmers in Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota […]
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Don’t Forget Those Generic Acres
I was on the Farm Journal Farm Bill webinar yesterday and one of the subjects I covered was the cotton generic acres. Because of the WTO rulings, the new farm bill does not have a cotton program (other than a special crop insurance STAX program). However, for those farmers with old cotton base, they are not allowed […]
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IRS Provides Guidance on Repair Regulations
I am not sure if I have seen more angst from tax preparers over the last year (other than Obama Care) than on the new Repairs Regulations that came out over a year ago. Many preparers assumed that wholesale Form 3115s were needed to accompany all of taxpayers tax returns for the 2014 tax filing […]
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Farm Bill Webinar
I will be doing a farm bill webinar for Farm Journal Media tomorrow, March 10 at 11 am CST. There will also be two more planned webinars on March 17 and March 24. If you still have questions about the new farm bill, I would certainly recommend listening in on these webinars. Tomorrow’s primary topic will be […]
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The Rural Main Street Index Slumps Into Negative Territory
The February Main Street Index from Creighton University finally slumped into negative territory. The January reading had been slightly above neutral at 50.9, but slumped sharply in February to 46.4. The lowest index readings for the 10 states surveyed was in Nebraska at 44.4 with Minnesota slightly ahead at 44.6. The best reading was for […]
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IRS Has Impeccable Timing (As Usual)
It was announced a couple of weeks ago that about 800,000 Form 1095-A were issued by the government with incorrect information. As a result of this error, the government has issued relief from certain filing requirements or penalties associated with these incorrect forms. The latest News Release was released just last Friday indicating that qualifying farmers […]
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What is Your Current RP Guarantee
Last Friday was the last day of the discovery price period for corn, soybeans, spring wheat and some other crops. We now know that the corn price should be $4.15 (2014 – $4.62) and soybean price should be $9.73 (2014 – $11.36). Spring wheat price should be $5.85 (2014 – $6.51). These lower guarantee prices […]
