Farm Industry Trends
-
What “Exhausted” Means for Social Security
We had a reader respond to our last post on the trustees report about Social Security. In that post, we mentioned that the trustees are projecting that the Social Security “pension” fund will be “exhausted” by 2033, three years ahead of previous projections. Social Security is form of a pension plan and it has three […]
-
Social Security Wage Base Expected to be $113,700 in 2013
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has projected that the wage base for 2013 will increase to $113,700 ($110,100 in 2012) due to an increase in average wages. However, the projection may change slightly when the actual increase in announced in October. The projection is part of the annual report that the SSA’s trustees gives to Congress […]
-
The Pace Of Planting
I am not an expert on planting progress, but I thought I would share by observations from my trip last week from Kansas City to Northern Wisconsin. In Northwestern Missouri and Northeastern Kansas, most of the corn appeared to be planted or fairly close to being done. Some farmers were going to wait a few […]
-
Sometimes You Lose When You Win!
The Tax Court recently ruled in favor of a taxpayer regarding a Section 1031 exchange. In the Reesink case (TC Memo 2012-118), the Tax Court indicated that the taxpayers were entitled to nonrecognition treatment on the purchase of a house that they ultimately moved into as their personal residence. Normally, you cannot sell investment property […]
-
Maximize Your Current Land Revenue!
In a meeting with one of my clients in Northern Illinois yesterday, we discussed one of their options for increasing their current land holdings without adding more land. They are in an area where farmland is costing $12,000 or more and none is available. Additionally, land rents are approaching or exceeding $400 per acre. One […]
-
What is the Right Equipment Size?
I was riding on the tractor on Wednesday with Chris Barron, my fellow columnist for Top Producer magazine, and we had a good discussion about how farming is different from other “manufacturing” operations when it comes to the right equipment size. In most manufacturing operations, the weather plays no role in the production process. The […]
-
The Iowa Farmland Premium
On Tuesday, I had a quick meeting at our Des Moines office. After that, I met Moe Russell at the local Village Inn for a quick cup of coffee (or in my case, a Coke since my mother bred out of me the coffee gene). Moe and I caught up with business and then had […]
-
My Thoughts on Angus Cattle
On Monday, I spent most of my day in St. Joseph, Missouri and near White Cloud Kansas. I visited our St. Joseph office in the morning and I had a great time meeting the staff and partners at a new office to me. However, this visit really made me feel old since as I looked […]
-
Deferred Sales Contracts
We had a reader ask the following question: “I am delivering 5000 bu of soybeans to the elevator today and will price them at today’s market. I want to receive the money in Jan. 2013 to keep this income out of 2012. do I need to have anything in the contract with CGB for IRS […]
-
The Backdoor Roth IRA
With the expected increase in income tax rates next year due to the Medicare Surtax and the possible sunsetting of the Bush tax cuts, now may be a great time to set up a Roth IRA. Unlike a regular IRA, a ROTH is completely tax-free when funds are withdrawn (assuming you meet certain requirements on […]