Hello Northeast Ohio! I cannot believe that January has come to a close already. 2013 has already been an interesting year due to the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 in early January. This fiscal cliff legislation includes a nine-month partial farm bill extension. Congress will now have until Oct. 1 to [...]

It happens every time. The ice cream is setting before me, and in my anticipation for the first bite of this creamy confection, I rush the process and the result is a “brain freeze.” It is easy to prevent if I would just eat more slowly. Supposedly the cold stimulates a nerve in the roof [...]

I recently saw an article by Stan Moore from Michigan State University Extension that addressed the topic of leadership on farms. This is a topic many farm managers struggle with, but is one of the critical functions that all farm managers must perform well. Below is the article Moore wrote for the Michigan State University [...]

Crop profitability prospects for 2013 are positive for the three major row crops in Ohio. Input costs have increased from last year, but high crop futures prices for 2013 crops will allow producers to plan for positive margins next year. OSU Extension enterprise budget projections show positive returns for corn, soybeans and wheat in 2013. [...]

“The cows are carrying the crops.” A familiar statement that described most diversified crop/dairy farms for the past 15 years. Milk was the original farm-level “value added” product. You add value to your crops by putting them through dairy cows and selling milk. In an about face caused by a wide variety of factors, for [...]

During the past six weeks, I have been on the road helping to teach the OSU income tax schools. These workshops help teach tax professionals about the latest changes to the IRS tax codes. I had the opportunity to teach the agriculture portion of these schools and today I would like to share some of [...]

We have a story to tell in our role as dairy farmers. There are countless opportunities to share it with others. It may not always be the setting we like or feel comfortable with, but our lives have dimensions that exceed those who work in the concrete jungles of a city, far removed from farm [...]

Making management decisions to minimize taxes is wise; evading tax is not. Landowners who have signed gas and oil leases, or are getting royalties, need to give some thought to tax management on the payments received.

The adage “keep the best and sell the rest” is always an important principal in managing a dairy farm, but with the high costs of feed and other inputs, following this principle is a must. The act of “culling” animals from the herd usually has a negative connotation because all too often this activity is [...]

COLUMBUS — Cropland values in Ohio have increased again in 2012. Data from the Oho Ag Statistics Service shows an increase of 13.6 percent for bare cropland in Ohio for 2012. According to their data, bare cropland averages $5000/acre, up from $4400/acre the previous year. An OSU Extension survey conducted in December 2011 estimated that [...]