RETIREMENT PLANNING BY FARMERS: OPPORTUNITIES IN THE TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT OF 1997

Relatively few farmers regularly use tax-favored retirement accounts to diversify long-term farm assets with nonfarm savings. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 creates new investment opportunities for both IRAs and regular capital assets. Complex tradeoffs exist among new tax incentives, possible resulting in few overall gains in diversification.Income taxes, retirement planning, capital gains, IRAs, Consumer/Household Economics, Financial Economics,

Effect of transport enrichment media, transport time, and growth media on the detection of Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis

Bovine genital campylobacteriosis is a contagious venereal disease of cattle caused by Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis. Semen collected from a bull infected with C. fetus subsp. venerealis can be contaminated and the bacteria transmitted to thousands of cows by artificial insemination. Reliable diagnostic procedures are required to accurately test semen donor bulls and to prevent seminal transmission of disease. The purpose of this study was to determine a combination of microbiological growth conditions such as transport enrichment media (TEM), transport time, TEM incubation, and growth media that best yields C. fetus subsp. venerealis while inhibiting contaminants. Transport enrichment medias evaluated include Weybridge, Cary and Blair, and 0.85% saline solution. Each TEM was inoculated with preputial smegma spiked with C. fetus subsp. venerealis and transported for 4 or 24 hours before being inoculated onto growth media with and without overnight incubation at 37 C. C. fetus subsp. venerealis and contamination growths were evaluated on a scale of 0-4. Median scores of C. fetus subsp. venerealis and microbial contamination were compared within TEM, transport time, overnight incubation, and growth media groups using the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The proportion of samples with any C. fetus subsp. venerealis growth or microbial contamination within each group was compared using the chi square test. The results suggest that C. fetus subsp. venerealis growth was significantly influenced by three of the four criteria. Weybridge TEM more effectively promoted growth than either Cary and Blair TEM or 0.85% saline solution (P<0.0001 ). Transport time of 4 hours rather than 24 hours was superior (P<0.000l). Benefits were associated with avoiding overnight TEM incubation at 37 C (P=0.0002). Significant differences were not identified for growth media; however, Skirrow's Campylobacter Agar yielded slightly better growth than either blood agar or Greenbriar Plus Agar. Contaminant growth was also significantly influenced by three of the four variables. Differences associated with TEM indicated Weybridge TEM inhibited contaminant growth more effectively than either Cary and Blair TEM or 0.85% saline solution (P<0.0001). Transport times of 4 and 24 hours did not significantly influence contaminant growth. Abstaining from overnight incubation of TEM was preferred for reduction of contaminant growth (P=0.0032). Skirrow's Agar was preferred to both blood agar and Greenbriar Plus Agar (P<0.0001). These results suggest that the detection of C. fetus subsp. venerealis is enhanced when preputial smegma samples arrive at the diagnostic laboratory within 4 hours of collection using Weybridge TEM followed by direct inoculation onto Skirrow's Agar the day samples arrive. Adherence to these guidelines will facilitate accurate diagnosis of bovine genital campylobacteriosis in bulls, thereby reducing the potential for seminal transmission of C. fetus subsp. venerealis and subsequent occurrence of infertility, early embryonic death, and abortion

WILL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS (EVER) BECOME PART OF U.S. FARM POLICY?

Various forms of farmer savings accounts have been proposed to help U.S. farmers manage their income variability. Financial incentives include tax-deferral and government matching deposits. This paper estimates farmer eligibility, program size, and benefit distributions for two congressional proposals: FARRM accounts and a farm counter-cyclical savings account program.Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance,

INCORPORATING THE 1990 FARM BILL INTO FARM-LEVEL DECISION MODELS: AN APPLICATION TO COTTON FARMS: COMMENT

Crop Production/Industries,

The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997: Provisions for Farmers and Rural Communities

Under the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, most farmers will pay less Federal income tax, and farm families will find it easier to transfer the family farm across generations. The new law--the tax portion of 1997 legislation to balance the Federal budget by 2002--emerges from years of debate on proposals for tax simplification, broad tax reduction, and targeted relief for capital gains and estate taxes. The legislation is expected to generate a net tax reduction of $95 billion over 5 years for all taxpayers. A number of general and targeted tax relief provisions will reduce Federal taxes significantly for farmers and other rural residents, but also will increase the complexity of both Federal income and estate taxes. Farmers are expected to save more than$1.6 billion per year in Federal income taxes and $150-200 million in Federal estate taxes.farm taxation, Federal income tax, family farm, capital gains, estate taxes, tax reform, tax policy, agricultural assets, farm income variability, Agricultural Finance, Public Economics,

EFFECTS OF FEDERAL TAX POLICY ON AGRICULTURE

This report analyzes the effects of the current Federal tax code on farming and evaluates tax proposals to assist beginning farmers. Investment, management, and production decisions in agriculture continue to be influenced by Federal tax laws. Farmers continue to benefit from both Federal income and estate tax policies targeted to agriculture. These provisions exert upward pressure on farmland values and help support ongoing trends that increase the number of very small and large farms. However, the influence of the current tax structure with lower marginal tax rates and a broader income base is less than in earlier decades and may be small relative to government farm programs. Tax proposals to assist beginning farmers would likely increase the availability of land for lease or purchase, but would do little to make land more affordable.Federal tax policy, income tax, social security tax, structure, small farms, estate and gift tax, capital gains, farm losses, Agricultural Finance, Public Economics,

Exploring the future potential of jute in Bangladesh

© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The study assesses the future potential of the jute sector in Bangladesh by examining its growth performance, international competitiveness, profitability, and production efficiency using national time-series data of over the period 1973-2013 and farm survey data from 289 farmers from two major jute growing areas of Bangladesh. Results revealed that the jute sector has experienced substantial growth in area, production, productivity, prices, and exports. However, productivity has stagnated during the latter 10-year period (2004-2013), while it grew at a rate of 1.3% per annum (p.a.) during the first 31-year period (1973-2003). Only traditional jute production is globally competitive, although financial profitability of white jute is relatively higher (benefit cost ratio = 1.24 and 1.17, respectively). Land, labor, and irrigation are the main productivity drivers for jute. The mean production efficiency of jute is estimated at 75% indicating substantial scope to improve yield by eliminating inefficiency. Marginal farmers are relatively inefficient. Policy implications include investments in research and development, irrigation, and tenurial reform and export protection for white jute in order to revive the sector and boost export earnings

Structural and Financial Characteristics of U.S. Farms: 2001 Family Farm Report

Family farms vary widely in size and other characteristics, ranging from very small retirement and residential farms to establishments with sales in the millions of dollars. The farm typology developed by the Economic Research Service (ERS) categorizes farms into groups based primarily on occupation of the operator and sales class of the farm. The typology groups reflect operators' expectations from farming, position in the life cycle, and dependence on agriculture. The groups differ in their importance to the farm sector, product specialization, program participation, and dependence on farm income. These (and other) differences are discussed in this report.Agricultural Resource Management Study (ARMS), family farms, farm businesses, farm financial situation, farm operator household income, farm operators, farm structure, farm typology, female farm operators, government payments, spouses of farm operators, taxes, Agricultural Finance, Farm Management,

Competitiveness, Profitability, Input Demand and Output Supply of Maize Production in Bangladesh

The study assesses international competitiveness, profitability, output supply and input demand of maize production using a farm survey data of 165 farmers from two major maize growing areas (i.e., Dinajpur and Lalmonirhat districts) of northwestern Bangladesh. Results revealed that maize production is globally competitive and, therefore, can successfully substitute its import. Maize production is also profitable at the farm level (Benefit Cost Ratio = 1.21) with no adverse influence of farm size on yield and profitability. Maize farmers are also responsive to changes in market prices of inputs and outputs. A 1% increase in maize price will increase output supply by 0.4%. The most dominant driver of maize supply and other input demands is land. A 1% increase in available land will increase maize supply by a substantial 3.9%. In addition, landless laborers will benefit through an increase in hired labor demand when land area increases. Policy implications include investments in R&amp;D, tenurial reform to consolidate land holding and smooth functioning of the hired labor market in order to increase maize production and profitability in Bangladesh

FY2010 Supplemental Appropriations for Agriculture

Two separate bills are advancing in the 111th Congress that could provide nearly $4 billion of supplemental funds for agricultural programs in FY2010. The agricultural provisions in these bills have a relatively small funding impact compared with the nonagricultural provisions in the bills. H.R. 4213 (commonly known as the “tax extenders” bill) would provide up to$3.6 billion for agriculture-related programs. The House and Senate are trading amendments to reconcile differences between each chamber’s version of the bill. The most recent House-passed version from May 28, 2010, includes $1.48 billion for agricultural disaster assistance,$1.15 billion for a settlement of the Pigford lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and $1.06 billion to extend tax provisions for biodiesel and conservation. The Senate-passed version from March 10, 2010, does not contain funding for the Pigford settlement, but does include the other provisions. Difficulty reaching agreement over the budget impact of the bill, and the need for offsets rather than emergency spending, may be jeopardizing the prospects that some of the agriculture provisions will remain in the bill. H.R. 4899 (a supplemental appropriations bill for war spending and disaster response) would provide relatively smaller appropriations for other agricultural programs, as well as rescind prior appropriations from various agricultural accounts. The House and Senate are trading amendments to reconcile difference between each chamber’s version of the bill. The most recent House-passed version from July 1, 2010, contains$1.4 billion for agriculture before rescissions, including $1.15 billion for the Pigford settlement (duplicated from H.R. 4213 because of procedural uncertainty),$150 million for international food aid (P.L. 480 Food for Peace), $50 million for food purchases in a domestic nutrition assistance program (The Emergency Food Assistance Program, TEFAP),$32 million for the farm loan program (to support an additional $950 million of loans),$18 million for emergency forest restoration, and additional authorities to raise fees for the Section 502 rural housing loan guarantee program. The Senate-passed version from May 27, 2010, contains $200 million for agriculture before rescissions, including identical provisions for the loan programs and forestry, but does not have the Pigford or TEFAP funding. Rescissions from agriculture programs are significant in the most recent House-passed version of H.R. 4899, totaling$1.0 billion, and are much larger than in the Senate-passed bill. The House bill from July 1 would rescind $487 million from reserve funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC),$422 million from rural development (including $300 million of rural broadband funding), and$70 million from unobligated balances from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Both the House and Senate bills would offset $50 million by limiting mandatory outlays for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). Both H.R. 4213 and H.R. 4899 await further floor action to resolve differences between the chambers