USDA ag census

First ag census since 2012 to be released Thursday. More BTO's and small farmers..........fewer mid size farms
Interesting state by state data



https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/big-small-or-bust-the-hollowing-out-of-mid-sized-u-s-farms

Gotta like the closing line : "the smarter brother stays on the farm"!

It makes sense.unless you have no debt being mid size usually doesn?t work. Small farms could be hobby farms where the owners work full time off farm or are retired.

My neighborhood has exploded. First off, locals running a few to several hundred acres have realized a step function in potential buyers with the growth of the DFW area. Urbania here is traffic, traffic, traffic; hustle bustle, everybody is in a big hurry. Building roads as fast as they can and no more get them built than developers have them full of cars again. Being in commuting distance to "the big city" (like 25-50 miles) makes my area very attractive.....when I bought out here it was 42 miles to my work and wife and I did it for 25 years. Today that trip would only be 25 miles due to urban sprawl and good paying jobs a plenty.

Those that can, buy a little place, like around me it's 10-66 acres. Being farm land, for tax purposes to take it out of "agriculture" status costs like 7 years of back taxes consisting of the difference between what the land owner actually paid and would have been paid if the property had not been in Ag. and then about $1.85/100 valuation at the current $7k tax assessment (not current selling price....that averages about $10k) per acre. Raw Ag. land is currently being assessed at $111/Ac., x $1.85/100........around 2 bucks. Plenty of incentive.

Besides, 40 years ago I converted from being an urbanite into a totally new way of life. Once you stick your toe in the water, no turning back. Grin

I have to agree with Mark. A ?small? farm is nothing more than someone with a horse taking advantage of the tax laws.

There was a piece on the news a few years ago about some realtors in SW Louisiana and SE Texas rice country bragging about the land was in the farm subsidies program and the new owner would now get the subsidies money even though it was being broken into 10 acre plots.

In Virginia to qualify for real estate tax relief the farmer has to show gross sales and a copy of the Federal Farm income tax form.Horses unless used for breeding don't count as farm animals.I know of a couple 10 acre vegetable operations that turn more money than some 500 acre cattle farms.I know of a guy with greenhouses on about 5 acres that probably turns more money than some farms with a thousand acres.The really big farms in my area are owned by Millionaires mostly for tax purposes.So who is the so called 'Real Farmer'?

(quoted from post at 09:09:15 04/11/19) In Virginia to qualify for real estate tax relief the farmer has to show gross sales and a copy of the Federal Farm income tax form.Horses unless used for breeding don't count as farm animals.

Click to expand...

That's the way it is almost everywhere. Anyone that thinks people that own a horse are getting a tax break are very much mistaken. You need to prove there is some income coming in. Even cattle that are bough for "personal consumption" will not qualify the land for a tax break.

I will not do it on my phone and may not get to it today but I will try and find the news article and post a link in the next few days.

I believe medium size farms are considered to gross $500k to $999k annually.

Like I said it is hard to research the original news article on my phone but I did find this.

Qualifications for a Texas Agricultural Tax Exemption. By temineth Jan 27. A Texas Agricultural Tax Exemption can be used as a land owner uses their land for hay production, raising livestock or managing wildlife. It also can be used for hunting or have their land used as agricultural productivity

The land in question use to be in rice. A subsidy was paid and the land was taken out of crop production and put back into a natural state.

I fail to see how managing wildlife will produce a income.

My county gives a tax break for having open land,since open land doesn't cost the county anything but houses usually come with kids to provide schools for.

I feel about the ag census like vncinalvictor feels about the release of voting and income tax info!

"I think whoever I vote for is my business, unless I decide to share it. Same goes for my tax returns. It's personal and none of your business how much money I make, spend or pay in taxes! "

The Ag Census is a damned intrusive waste of a farmer's time!

Counting farmers is ONE thing, but it goes FAR farther than that.



https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi?bd=ttalk&th=2047775

vincinal's post

I think there is some state variability here. In Iowa, you can qualify to be exempt from sales tax if you are a farmer or things you buy are for farm use. We do not get to do that -- state of Iowa does not recognize horses that way unless you can prove you are making money with them. Try that !!!!! HAH! I did not get a Census form to fill out. Last time I did I was in high school -- grew up on a working farm.
If you don't want to give info on this, don't. There are no names attached to it or anything. But be aware that a lot of companies make their decisions based on things like Census of Ag data. So not filling it out means that these companies will look at the data and notice that your size of operation is dwindling. So the companies say, "well heck, there aren't that many of those types of farms. We don't need to make products targeted at them."

(quoted from post at 10:50:54 04/11/19) Like I said it is hard to research the original news article on my phone but I did find this.

Qualifications for a Texas Agricultural Tax Exemption. By temineth Jan 27. A Texas Agricultural Tax Exemption can be used as a land owner uses their land for hay production, raising livestock or managing wildlife. It also can be used for hunting or have their land used as agricultural productivity

The land in question use to be in rice. A subsidy was paid and the land was taken out of crop production and put back into a natural state.

I fail to see how managing wildlife will produce a income.

Click to expand...

Sounds like you're describing the CRP program. Which is a far cry from someone getting tax exemption by owning a horse, which is what you said.

Don't need no census to tell me how many farms are out there and what size they are. Just drive through the countryside and by looking at the buildings I can tell if any livestock on place and what kind. Look at how many grain bins and I can tell you if big or medium size. Better yet you can travel the country sitting at your computer with google earth.

I didn't look up the particulars as I wasn't that interested at the time, but one of my neighbors, years ago, put his land into "Set Aside" (some quirk in the county tax law) and did absolutely nothing to/with it. In short order it was taken over by Cedar (Juniper kin folk) Trees and just about useless for anything but maybe deer (and mow Feral Hog) habitat.

The census is only for those who feed off of us. I throw mine away.

Lots of govt. programs out there including planning for the future or appropriations for this or that. I don't like the intrusion either but I have to say that it
CAN/COULD go toward improving good causes rather than just puking money (to get credit for it) at something which no doubt happens.

Released April 11, 2019 the 2017 synopsis: https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2019/04/11/2017-census-agriculture-data-now-available

If you want the whole shebang for 2019 back aways: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/index.php