November 20, 2019 | Vol. 12 : No. 11
Nobody really wants to pay taxes, but there are good and bad ways to avoid paying them. It’s like a chess match. This year has been tough for many around the country, and Wesley Tucker, field specialist in agribusiness for the University of Missouri Extension, offers some tax mitigation strategies for dealing with disaster-caused changes.
Agriculture is probably the most common occupation where multiple generations share a life work. The older generation, after spending a lifetime creating something and raising their children on the farm, wants to pass it on to them. The children, after growing up on the farm and some or all of them investing their hopes and future working with Dad and Mom, may want to end up there. The tough part is knowing how to do it.
Estate planning is not something you can do on your own. It requires tough conversations with family or business partners, and it also needs a team of professionals with lawyers, appraisers and certainly CPAs. Admittedly, it’s not a fun process, but it is of utmost importance.
In talking to farmers across the Midwest, Jolene Brown, a professional speaker and family business consultant, offers some unexpected advice to those overwhelmed by the stress of cultivating the land.
Call your family doctor, she’ll say. “When you make the appointment, tell them you have a sore throat.”
Ranchers need to plan ahead regarding winter forage supplies, and this includes finding ways to store hay that help preserve quality and reduce moisture damage. Emily Glunk Meccage, former forage extension specialist in the Department of Animal and Range Sciences at Montana State University, was involved with a research project last year, looking at round bale storage outdoors. Not everyone has the luxury of hay sheds, and there is a lot of hay stored outside.
Farmers who want to start growing cover crops can turn to “recipes” on the Midwest Cover Crops Council website. Free downloadable PDFs tell how and why to add cover crops into a corn-soybean rotation, says Charles Ellis, University of Missouri Extension field specialist in agricultural engineering.
