News

Year-end planning will look different compared to last several years

Many farms are going to have more income on the books at the end of 2020 than in recent years.

North-central Iowa farmer Casey Schlichting says year-end tax planning is generally pretty easy.

“It’s ‘here are my expenses and here is my income.’ But this year we have ‘here are my expenses, here’s my income, here’s various forms of government payments.’ It’s going to be interesting.”

The combination of federal aid like Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments and generally stronger corn and soybean prices could tempt some farmers to defer income into next year.

Schlichting tells Brownfield he has no plans to do that.

“I do my best on keeping a crop year as far as expenses and income in one year. You start moving stuff around (and) it will eventually come back to bite you.”

Schlichting farms 1,100 acres near Clear Lake with his dad and uncle.  He says what works for one operation might not work for another, and he’s just trying to do what’s best for his farm.