December, 2014
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Is California Egg Law the Wave of the Future for Farming?
A recent Business Week article highlighted the current California law regarding the amount of area that chickens are required to have in order for producers to sell eggs into California. The law was passed a couple of years back requiring at least 116 squares inches of space for each laying hen which was almost a […]
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Merry Christmas – 2014
I would like to extend our wishes to everyone for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I have traveled to almost all of the continents and I can safely say that our country enjoys more “gifts” than almost any other country in the world and we should be thankful for it every day. […]
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Will Dairy Margin Protection Make Payments in 2015
Friday, December 19, 2014 was the last day to sign up for the new Dairy Margin Protection Program which insures coverage between $4 and $8 of margin. This margin is based upon the difference between the US All Milk Price and Feed Costs based upon corn, soybean meal and alfalfa hay. Earlier in the year, […]
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It’s Official
President Obama signed the Tax Extenders Bill yesterday and now farmers can go out and buy as much equipment as they want before year-end to take full advantage of Section 179 for 2014. I have a feeling there may be a fair amount of “phantom” equipment bought between now and the end of the year. […]
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How Does County Yield Affect ARC-CO Payment
FarmDoc Daily issued a report yesterday on the amount of estimated payments for ARC-CO and PLC by covered crop for the 2014 crop year based upon the updated USDA price information from last week. It gives you a good idea of the types of payments for each crop based upon the low, medium or high USDA […]
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Senate Passes Tax Extender Bill 76-16
It is now final (other than the President signing it which he will). This gives farmers about two weeks to make purchases of equipment to take full advantage of Section 179, bonus depreciation and other business tax extenders. I just finished the last tax school in Ames, Iowa today. Over 300 in attendance with another […]
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Wednesday Optimistic – Thursday Pessimistic
The Hill is reporting that progress was made by the Senate yesterday in getting several nominees confirmed. These confirmations do take time and the estimated day of final passage of the Tax Extender Bill is either late Wednesday or sometime on Thursday. “Senators will vote to end debate and confirm Sarah Saldaña, Obama’s nominee to […]
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Tax Extender Bill Could Pass Today
The Hill (a site that tracks Congress and the President) is reporting that Senator Reid is trying to get the Senate to finish all of their remaining work today and go home for the holidays. However, there is always at least one Senator that likes to gum up the works. The Senate will begin voting […]
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Does Budget Bill Fiasco Spell Doom of Tax Extender Bill
Based on the experience with the House yesterday in passing the 2015 Budget Bill, it would not surprise me if Congress now punts the Tax Extender Bill completely to 2015. I still firmly believe that there is enough votes in the Senate to get the bill passed, however, based on certain stubborn Senators on both the […]
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IRS Announces 2015 Standard Mileage Rates
The IRS has announced the 2015 standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical and moving purposes. The 2015 rates are: 57.5 cents per mile for business miles driven, up from 56 cents in 2014. 22 cents of this amount is considered depreciation for basis reduction […]