Category Archives: Farm Finances

UVM Extension Agricultural Business To Host Weekly Web Forum

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For the remainder of April UVM Extension Agricultural Business will host a 30-minute web forum every Thursday at 12:30pm to keep pace with emerging COVID-19 issues faced by farm and forest businesses. Each session will include an update on market situations for our farming sectors and information on hot topics, as well as time for questions and discussion.

 Weekly Focus Topics:

  • April 16th:  SBA Emergency Loan Programs
  • April 23rd:  Cash Flow Triage for Small Business
  • April 30th: Digital Entrepreneurship and Online Marketing

Please register in advance for this web meeting.

Contact Mark.Cannella@uvm.edu to register.

Watch for updates about this series on our blog.

UVM Extension Agricultural Business Educators are available for consultation

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If your farm, forest or maple business is under pressure to plan for COVID-19 disruption, our educators are available for business coaching and can assist with locating resources. We can help with critical business decision-making, assessing changes to markets, financial planning and other issues facing your enterprises.

Contact one of our educators by email or leaving a voicemail to make an appointment:

Farm, Forest and Maple Business Clinics

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UVM Extension Business Specialists Mark Cannella, Tony Kitsos, Chris Lindgren, Betsy Miller and Zac Smith are available to work one-on-one with farm, forest and maple businesses on their finances. Reserve a 1½ hour appointment to prepare documents that will help manage the business. Use the time to develop a balance sheet, update financial statements, review a business plan, consider changes to the business and more. Bring your financial statements, recent records and questions!

➥ 1½ hour, private meetings
➥ Nearly 100 appointments available from February – April 2020
➥ Held at UVM Extension Offices in 9 locations (Online or phone meetings are also available)
➥ FREE!

Business Clinics Information Sheet (PDF)

Contact Christi Sherlock at Christi.Sherlock@uvm.edu or 802.476.2003 to register for one of the appointments listed below.

To ensure adequate preparation, reservations must be made by the Thursday of the week before your appointment. If you require a disability-related accommodation to participate, please call at least three weeks in advance of your scheduled session.

Useful Farm Tax resources…or are they?

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by Betsy Miller, Farm Management Educator

I work with many types of farms and farmers in business planning.  I don’t keep track of the percentage, but I would say a majority of the folks I work with hire a professional to prepare their tax returns. However, I am a firm believer that a basic understanding of the rules is helpful even to those who hire a professional. 

When I sat down to write this I planned to share a few links of resources that would be helpful to farmers who either prepare their own returns or just want a better understanding.  What I found was a little disturbing.  Many of the sites that I used to find helpful are now out of date.  We all expect things to change from one year to the next, but there were some big changes in 2018 and many of the farm tax resources out there do not reflect or even mention those changes. 

I urge any of you who use the internet to find tax resources to check the dates on what you are reading. Make sure you are getting current information.

The one link that I will recommend is the IRS Pub 225 Farmers Tax Guide. 

Spring Has Sprung – a Gasket!

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by Tony Kitsos

This spring has been quite a challenge, to say the least! Weather reports across the state talk about rain in some location on any given day, and that makes us a bit grumpy! We’ve waited all winter to get this year’s crops in the ground and take first cut off — and here it is June 5th with plenty of work to do on most farms.

On a recent early-June drive from Morrisville to Middlebury I saw a good many cornfields un-spread, un-plowed, and unplanted. And the window for getting a mid-May first cut in and covered was slammed shut by a month with rainfall 4” over the historical average. The New Englander’s adage of a year’s seasons being 4 months of winter and 8 months of damn poor sleddin’ has held court. It seems that if there’s less that can be done in the field, it hampers doing other projects – just don’t want to get wrapped up in anything else in case the weather breaks and it’s time to head to the fields.

All well and good, but while we wait, we need to turn our attentions to another season that’s upon us… Construction season. As if having too much water in the fields isn’t enough, there’s plenty of mud hanging around the farmstead and making quite a mess! It’s pointing out some of the high-risk areas that need to be filled in, drained, graded, or whatever is needed to minimize farmstead runoff into our waterways. Take the opportunity to find areas needing attention. Do some easy fixes. And be sure that we’re all responsible for containing runoff when and where it occurs.

UVM Agricultural Business has funds to help you assess the financial feasibility of some of the more comprehensive projects. We work independently, or with NRCS and VAAFM staff to help you find the best, most cost-effective solutions to most any water quality situation.  Give us a call at the St. Albans office at 802-524-6501 and ask for Tony Kitsos. I’m looking forward to starting the conversation.

Crop Insurance Resources and Winter Webinars

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From Jake Jacobs, UVM Crop Insurance Education Coordinator

A series of webinars on various crop insurance topics is being presented this winter through a combined effort between Penn State Extension and National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS).  These are designed to familiarize farmers with the various insurance options and to help producers make decisions about how crop insurance might fit in with their farm’s risk management plan.  For each crop, participants will learn:

  • What crop insurance products are available
  • What risks are covered
  • How different types of insurance work
  • What options within each policy are available
  • The application process
  • Where to go for additional information and help

Here are the webinars scheduled in the 2nd half of February:

2/26/19              Green Peas

2/28/19              Oats

Pennsylvania

For a complete list of all remaining topics in the webinar series, go to the NCIS webinar link:

For resources on agricultural risk management for Vermont producers, visit the UVM Ag Risk website

https://go.uvm.edu/ag-risk

USDA and the University of Vermont are equal opportunity providers and employers. This material is funded in partnership by USDA, Risk Management Agency, under award number RM18RMETS524C022.

Farm, Forest and Maple Business Clinics

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UVM Extension Business Specialists Mark Cannella, Tony Kitsos, Chris Lindgren and Betsy Miller are available to work one-on-one with farm, forest and maple businesses on their finances. Reserve a 1½ hour appointment to prepare documents that will help manage the business. Use the time to develop a balance sheet, update financial statements, review a business plan, consider changes to the business and more. Bring your financial statements, recent records and questions!

➥ 1½ hour, private meetings
➥ Nearly 100 appointments available from February – April 2019
➥ Held at UVM Extension Offices in 10 locations
➥ only $25.00
Online Registration Here!

Business Clinics Information Sheet

Dairy Financial News: Update on USDA’s Margin Protection Program for 2018

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The sign-up period for MPP coverage in 2018 will close on June 1, 2018.

If you’re shipping milk you should check out how the USDA has revamped the Margin Protection Program (MPP) for 2018. Premiums have dropped, especially for Tier I pricing (less than 5 million lbs of milk). Here’s how it works.

The program makes payments when the monthly margin between the U.S. all-milk price and national average feed costs falls below the level of coverage chosen by the producer. Above the basic $5 margin level for the first 5 million pounds there are supplemental coverage options available for purchase in 50-cent increments. Supplemental coverage can extend up to $8/cwt. The program pays on one-twelfth of a producer’s annual production history, multiplied by the percentage of supplemental coverage chosen, from 25% up to 90%, plus the remaining coverage provided on the farm’s production history at the basic $5 level. Once a farm enrolls in the MPP it is committed to the program through 2018. Farmers must have an up-to-date Form 1026, signifying that they meet conservation requirements, in order to participate.

For example, if you use 3,000,000 lbs milk production history and the $8.00 MPP level and elect to insure 90% of that production you could receive an estimated $13,897 in total payments. At a premium cost of $4,196, that’s a net return of $9,701 for the whole year, after premiums are covered. The January, February and March margins are set, and in the above scenario, the payout so far in 2018 is $8,798, more than covering the $4,196 premium. This program is worth revisiting!

For more information, follow this link to the MPP Decision Tool  where you can make inputs specific to your farm. The sign-up period for coverage in 2018 opened on April 9 and will close on June 1, 2018. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is allowing farmers to opt out of coverage for 2018. For more information, contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and ask about MPP or read this MPP Factsheet.

 

New Vermont Maple Business Benchmark Report

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Photo Credit: Mark Isselhardt

UVM Extension has published the newest 2016 VT Maple Benchmark report. This report shows financial analysis and profitability for a group of syrup businesses that range from 2,500 to 20,000 taps. Download a copy of the 2016 report now. 

In 2016 maple market prices had dropped significantly but very high production yields for many participants resulted in stronger profitability for 2016 compared to 2015. Bulk maple producers showed a wide range of cost of production from $1.62 per pound to $2.52 per pound with an average cost of $2.00 per pound. Overall costs on a per pound basis declined in 2016 due to high production yields. Several historically high performing businesses, however, will be challenged to stay profitable as market prices drop below $2.25 per pound and/or they experience only “good-to-average” yields. This is a growing concern for maple sugar makers from 8,000-15,000 taps that rely on maple income for household income.

Many maple businesses have already or plan to diversify market channels. There is no guarantee that higher wholesale or direct market prices can compensate for the costs and time associated with serving those new customers. The reality, however, is that bulk maple businesses that drop below financial break-even levels will seek to find alternative ways to market syrup in order to stay in business. Several participating businesses in this project have demonstrated that a mixed marketing plan that includes bulk sales and some direct sales can preserve profitability and reduce the risk of uncontrollable bulk market prices.

The VT Maple Benchmark project will continue in 2018! Starting in May our business educators will begin completing 2017 financial analysis with maple sugar makers and sap only enterprises. Contact Mark Cannella for more information (Mark.Cannella@uvm.edu) . This year the project specifically needs more producers from 15,000 taps – 50,000 taps to register.

UVM Extension is also offering maple business planning assistance from May- December to Vermont sugar makers. Contact Mark  for more information on maple financial analysis and business planning assistance. Mark.Cannella@uvm.edu