Business Operations

The past 14 months have been extremely tough on all of us. What started as “Two Weeks to Flatten the Curve,” stretched into over a year of unprecedented government lockdowns and restrictions. Thankfully, we have watched the marvels of modern science develop, implement, and roll out a vaccine faster than ever before. Here in mid-May, we are seeing much of the United States open back up or at least being scheduled to open with restrictions lifted. As full of uncertainty as 2020 was, we were fortunate enough to begin the season with fully stocked pipelines of products. In many [...]

Introduction It’s that time of year again…tax time. Many farmers have already filed March 1, others will file by May 17 (the normal filing date of April 15 was recently pushed back by the Internal Revenue Service). Whether you’ve already filed, reviewing your return or have yet to receive all your tax documents, there are often many questions as to which income items are taxable and how they are taxed. This blog post is going to review some unique income items for 2020, different types of income and how they are taxed. We will start by discussing three of [...]

While 2020 was a challenging year in many ways, farm incomes were relatively strong in parts of the Midwest. These income levels often give rise to a search for a tax deferred retirement plan. There are several options available, however, the retirement plan space can be very complex. The following is a synopsis of some of the more common retirement plan options followed by a table that outlines the characteristics of each type of plan. Individual Retirement Account - IRA IRAs are the least complex and most versatile.  The deduction is limited to the lesser of wages plus net [...]