Illinois Soybean Assoc. Seeks Request for Proposals
The annual Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) Request for Proposals is open and accepting submissions to conduct work with checkoff funded dollars for fiscal year 2024.
2023 Soybean Summit Recap
Did you miss this year’s Soybean Summit? Check out the video event recap!
Attention Double Crop Producers: March 15th Crop Insurance Deadline Approaching
The USDA Risk Management announced this summer that agricultural producers may have options for double crop soybeans (or other crops) insurance in counties where the “Following Another Crop” (FAC) practice in not available.
The Illinois Centennial Soil Archive Project
Dr. Margenot is looking to re-sample sites across the state to understand how Illinois soils have changed and evolved over time.
Pandemic-Induced Supply Chain Issues Still Prevalent
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 [...]
Deciphering Types of Income
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 [...]
Retirement Plans for Farm Operators
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 [...]
Get Covered with Available Farm Programs in 2021
Illinois soybean and wheat farmers have plenty of programs at their disposal to protect and grow 2021 crop production. The best approach is to understand what programs are available, take note of any registration or application deadlines and double-check for updates to last year’s programs. That was the advice of a trio of farm program officials speaking during the 2021 Double-Crop Farmers Forum sponsored by ISA, the Illinois Wheat Association and several other partners. Brian Frieden, Illinois state director with the Risk Management Agency; Wendy Mueller, Illinois compliance chief program officer for the Farm Service Agency (FSA); and Ray [...]