Category Archives: Farm Finances

New Dairy Grant$ :Business Plan Review Available for Applicants

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A new round of grants for dairy farmers that are members of the St. Albans Cooperative was announced on March 14th. Funds donated by Commonwealth Dairy to the VT Housing and Conservation Board will support the grants program. Grant proposals up to $40,000 each will be accepted. Farm applicants will be required to submit a business plan with their application for the grant and UVM Extension Farm Viability will be available to provide pre-review of  business plans before they are  submitted with  applications.

Any farms that would like to get their business plan reviewed before application must contact Liz Gleason at the Vermont Farm and Forest Viability Program, 802-828-3370 or email at liz@vhcb.org. Go to this link for all the information you need about the grants program. http://www.vhcb.org/Farm-Forest-Viability/dairy-grants/

The grant application deadline is April 28th. Farms must remember that  pre-review  requires the submission of  plans in advance of April 28th to allow ample time for review and revisions. Follow the link above for more details.

REd Barn

 

 

Markup and Margins: Price Setting Essentials

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Understanding price-setting is essential for anyone who produces, buys or sells agricultural products. UVM Extension Farm Viability has just posted a resource sheet that explains how “markups” and “margins” are applied to prices. The  “Mark-up and Margins to Set Prices” sheet also provides tables to convert product prices based on common markups and margins we observe in the market place today.

You can view or download the “Mark-up  and Margins to set Prices” fact sheet today. Click  this link to the Resource Library page and scroll down to find this fact sheet and other resources for farm businesses.    http://blog.uvm.edu/farmvia/?page_id=26

Important Income Tax Changes for H-2A Status Workers

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For Immediate Release

Contact: Maribeth Spellman

Director of Policy, Outreach and Legislative Affairs

Vermont Department of Taxes

(802) 828-0141 or Maribeth.Spellman@state.vt.us

 

Important Income Tax Changes for H-2A Status Workers

 

Montpelier, Vt., July 30, 2013 – The Vermont legislature recently passed a law that clarifies the tax status of individuals enrolled in the H-2A visa program. Many Vermont farms employ foreign national workers who come to the U.S. for temporary or seasonal work through the H-2A program.

 

Beginning with tax year 2012, H-2A status workers must file individual income tax returns in the state of Vermont, as well as at the federal level. For individuals who have not submitted an individual income tax return for 2012, they should do so as soon as possible.

 

For tax years prior to 2012, any liability, interest or penalty paid by an H-2A status worker will be refunded upon request. In order to be eligible, an individual must provide proof of H-2A status by submitting Form I-94 where their class of admission is H-2A. This is marked on their visa. H-2A workers seeking refunds should contact the department.

 

Employers who already have a withholding account may use that for H-2A status workers. If an employer wants to open a withholding account, they may do so by completing Form S-1, Application for Business Tax Account.

 

The Vermont Department of Taxes is assisting H-2A status workers and their employers with this change. For further information, please contact the department at (802) 828-2865 or (866) 828-2865 (toll free in Vermont).

4 State of Vermont Tax Issues for Farms

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UVM Extension Farm Management Specialist Dennis Kauppila has just published an informative summary of important tax issues for  Vermont farm owners. This piece covers the following items:  (click this link to: 4 State of VT Tax Issues for Farms)

  • Hobby-Loss vs. Farming with Commercial Intent
  • Sales taxes
  • Rooms and meals taxes
  • “Current Use” or Use-Value Appraisal of agricultural land

(click this link to: 4 State of VT Tax Issues for Farms-   Dennis Kauppila)

 

New 2013 Rates for Machinery and Custom Hire

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New machinery custom rates for 2013 have been published by Pennsylvania’s National Agriculture Statistics Service. Their report provides average rates for many categories within primary tillage, planting, haymaking, silage making, hauling, spraying/fertilizer/manure, tractor rental and other.

Rates have gone up for numerous activities. If you plan to hire someone for custom activities you can expect to be charged higher rates. If you are providing custom services, be sure to evaluate your own expenses so that you can adjust your own rates to the proper amount.

Here is the link to  the  2013 PA Machinery Custom Rates:

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Pennsylvania/Publications/Machinery_Custom_Rates/2013%20CustomRates.pdf

 

Quick Books or Quicken? Which accounting system will do the job?

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Everyone loves the idea of a better accounting system but we often get stuck on what system to invest time, money and training into. As Farm Viability financial analysts we see farms using all sorts of systems. From shoe boxes and notebooks right through to customized commercial software programs there are many different was to record finances and produce meaningful reports to guide your management decisions.

It is common for people to adapt their Quicken home finance program into a farm accounting system when the farm first develops. With a couple years, the business grows and the farm is not sure if they have also grown out of that initial accounting system. Is it time to purchase Quick Books or one of the other software programs out there? The answer will depend on many things: do you have employees, do you invoice you buyers, do you seek to calculate payroll withholdings, do you seek to track enterprises (maple vs beef) separately?

Here is a link to a series of recorded videos from Oklahoma State Extension that explain Quicken vs. Quick Books. Take some time to learn about what these programs can offer you and decide which system will give you the information you need to make the best decisions on your farm.

 http://agecon.okstate.edu/quicken/index.asp?type=videos