Farm Operations
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What is your plan?
I just finished up attending a two day seminar in our Minneapolis office with our company wide Agribusiness and Cooperative group. There is a ton of talent assembled in this group and it was great to get to know them better. As I was attending one of the discussions I got a text with updated […]
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With Low Interest Rates, Special Use Valuation May Not Save Much Estate Tax
With the explosive increase in cash rents and the continued decrease of interest rates, the savings by electing special use valuation for estate tax purposes may not be available in 2012. One of the special estate tax provisions for farmers is the option to elect to reduce the value of the estate to reflect the […]
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MF Global Recovery at 72% and Should Exceed 92%
It appears that most of the MF Global customers have received about 72% of their claims to date. When a large company such as MF Global enters bankruptcy, there is an active market in buying and selling these claims. Many hedge funds will purchase these claims with the expectation of making a profit when the […]
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Maximum Section 179 Deduction Still at $500,000 for Many Farmers
With the rapid changes in the bonus depreciation and Section 179 deduction for 2010 to 2012, I thought I would update our farmers on how much Section 179 is available. For bonus depreciation of new equipment, if the asset is placed in service between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012, then 50% bonus depreciation […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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The End of Tax Season!
By my unofficial count, this is my 30th tax season. I worked for a small CPA firm in downtown Seattle during my first tax season (while attending college at the University of Washington and being newly married) and the owner giving me a set of partnership returns to work on. I was so proud of […]