February, 2011
-
Another Reason to Use a LLC Versus a Partnership
I came across a recent court case regarding the non-discharge of farm debt for a husband and wife in a partnership. The husband had provided a “borrowing base certificate” to the lender showing the farm owned about 4,700 head of cattle when in reality the farm never had more than 1,000 cattle at any one […]
-
Diary Producer Continues Expansion into China
In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, there was an interview with Andrew Ferrier, the Chief Executive of Fonterra Co-Operative Group of New Zealand. This company is the third largest dairy exporter in the world with sales of about $13 billion, profits of $500 million and almost 16,000 employees. It is interesting that a small country like New […]
-
Farmer’s Tax Due Date – March 1 or April 15?
With about 8 days to March 1, most farmers are frantically scrambling to get all of their tax data accumulated and presented to their tax preparers. Almost all farmers try to file by March 1 since there is no penalty for filing and paying their income tax for the year by that date even if […]
-
Federal Reserve Reports Rapid Rise in Land Values and Farm Income!
The Federal Reserve of Kansas City on Tuesday reported that farm land values in their district had risen substantially from the previous year. The year-over-year rise for non-irrigated land were as follows: Kansas 19.5% Missouri 6.6% Nebraska 17.6% Oklahoma 5.0% The overall value for their district was a 14.8 percent rise for non-irrigated crop land and 12.9 […]
-
$2 Cotton Can Lead to Bankrupt Farmers!
Now that cotton is rapidly approaching $2 a pound or corn is over $7 a bushel, many people feel that farmers now have it made and the good times will always be here. What I have seen in my career is that almost the exact opposite may happen. Many farmers (or other business people) get […]
-
Exchange of Bare Land Allows For Depreciaiton on New Property
We got the following question from a reader: “If I 1031 a bare land parcel for a parcel with improvements can I depreciate the improvements?” Before, I answer the question, lets review what “1031” means. 1031 refers to the section of the Internal Revenue Code dealing with tax-deferred exchanges. Under a 1031, a farmer can […]
-
Bred Replacement Heifers Qualify for Bonus Depreciation
We had a reader ask the following question: “I am new to cattle farming and purchased bred replacement heifers in 2010, can I take the 100% bonus depreciation on them?, as they are “New” (never calved before)? Alternatively, what would be the best type of depreciation method to apply to heifers to maximize my depreciation […]
-
Capital Gains Tax Rates for 2011
We had a reader ask the following question: “What will be the cap gain tax rates for the year we are now in 2011 specifically by income tax bracket?” For 2011 and 2012, long-term capital gains (assets held for more than one year) are taxed at a maximum tax rate of 15% (unless you are […]
-
Are You Ready for the Super Bowl of Farming?
After watching the Super Bowl last night (and I must admit I was rooting for the Packers), I reflected on how our farmers may want to check their operations and management to see if they would be ready to play in the Super Bowl of Farming. As a manager of your farm operation are you: […]
-
Time for a Fiscal Checkup!
One of the things that struck me about attending both the TEPAP and the Top Producer Conference is how many of our top farmers are still not taking advantage of all of the financial tools available to them. For example, I would estimate that probably upwards of 90% of all farmers are still using the […]