Author: bennett.709

Health insurance options for farm families

Press Release from the National Farm Medicine Center March 30, 2020:

Health insurance options for farm families

Many farm families rely on off-farm jobs for health insurance, and the sudden layoffs and furloughs might mean that farm families are losing their coverage unexpectedly. Other families, who have not had insurance, might be looking to purchase a plan in these uncertain times.

Health insurance marketplaces and eligibility criteria for public coverage vary from one state to another, but a search for coverage could start by contacting an insurance agent, or checking your state’s health insurance exchange https://www.healthcare.gov/.

“Loss of job-based health insurance coverage is a qualifying event to purchase coverage outside of the open enrollment period and this can be a cheaper alternative to paying for continuation of employer-based health coverage through COBRA,” said Florence Becot, Ph.D., a rural sociologist and associate scientist with the National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Marshfield, Wis.

Furthermore, said Becot, because of the extraordinary nature of COVID-19, as of March 26, 11 states have re-opened their health insurance exchange for a special enrollment period (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington). The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is also considering opening a special enrollment period for the 32 states that are run by the federal government.

Becot also suggests checking out the Health Insurance, Rural Economic Development and Agriculture website (HirednAg), for more information on tools and resources about health insurance for the agricultural sector.

Becot’s research program focuses on the health, well-being, safety, and economic viability of farm families.

CONTACT: Scott Heiberger
Heiberger.Scott@marshfieldresearch.org
715-389-7541

 

Ag Outlook Meeting to be hosted in Darke County

Ohio State University Extension, Darke County is pleased to announce the 2020 Agricultural Outlook Meeting. The Outlook Meeting topics and presenters are:

  • A Look at The 2020 Grain Markets
    • Ben Brown – Assistant Professor, OSU AEDE, Professional Practice in Agricultural Risk Management
  • Examining the 2020 Ohio Farm Economy
    • Barry Ward – Assistant Professor, OSU Extension Production Business Management
  • 2020 Weather Outlook
    • Aaron Wilson – Atmospheric Scientist, Byrd Polar Research Center and OSU Extension
  • Weather the Storm in Agriculture
    • Sarah Noggle – OSU Extension ANR Educator, Paulding County
  • 2018 Farm Bill Decisions – IT IS GAME TIME
    • Sam Custer, OSU Extension ANR Educator, Darke County

Join the faculty from Ohio State University Extension and Ohio State Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics as they discuss the issues and trends affecting agriculture in Ohio. The Outlook meeting is being sponsored by Darke County Farm Bureau, Farm Credit Mid-America, Second National Bank and The Farmers State Bank. The outlook meeting is scheduled for:

February 21, 2020- Western Region Outlook- 8:00 am

Romer’s Catering- 118 E. Main, Greenville OH 45331

RSVP by: February 14th — $20 registration

Contact the Darke County Extension Office 937-548-5215

For more information about OSU Extension, Darke County, visit the Darke County OSU Extension web site at www.darke.osu.edu, the OSU Extension Darke County Facebook page or contact Sam Custer, at 937.548.5215.

January is a Great Time to Complete the Farm Balance Sheet

Eric Richer, OSUE Fulton County

 The balance sheet is a “snap shot” in time of your farm’s financial position, including what assets you own and how they are financed. The balance sheet is also known as the net worth statement. When completed precisely and timely, the balance sheet and corresponding ratios can be a very valuable tool to determine farm financial health. The balance sheet objectively measures farm business growth, liquidity, solvency, and risk capacity.

Categorizing Balance Sheet Items

The assets and liabilities on the balance sheet (including the financing of the assets) are used to determine the equity, or net worth, of the farm owner. The owner’s equity is used by lenders and insurers to determine a farm business’ value.  There are two ways to calculate the owner’s equity, or net worth. The first simply subtracts the liabilities from the assets:

Assets – Liabilities = Owner’s Equity

The second calculation adds the owner’s equity with liabilities to determine the assets:

Liabilities + Owner’s Equity = Assets

Terms of Assets and Liabilities

Beyond the broad categories of either an asset or liability, a balance sheet categorizes items into “time compartments” or terms of useful life. Useful life is a term for the amount of time an item can be utilized for the farm business. Depreciation allocates the cost of this asset over its useful life. Both assets and liabilities can be categorized into current, intermediate, and long, or fixed, terms of useful life.

Assets – Current assets can be converted to cash in one year or less. Common current assets are cash, growing crops, harvested crop inventory, market livestock, accounts receivable, and other similar items. Intermediate assets have an assumed useful life or depreciable value of one to ten years. Common intermediate assets are breeding livestock, machinery and equipment, titled vehicles, and not-readily-marketable bonds and securities. Long term, or fixed, assets are typically permanent items with value—depreciable or not—for more than ten years and include farmland, buildings, farmsteads, and other similar items.

Liabilities – Current liabilities are obligations that are due and payable in the next twelve months. Most common current liabilities include accounts payable (bills), credit card bills, operating lines of credit, accrued interest, and the current portion of principal on loans due this year. Intermediate liabilities are obligations that due to be paid back within one to ten years and are usually associated with intermediate farm assets on the left side of the balance sheet. Common intermediate liabilities are the principal remaining on machinery and equipment loans or breeding livestock purchases. Finally, long term, or fixed, liabilities are debts with terms greater than ten years like the principal balance remaining on a farmland or building mortgage.

Assets: Market Value vs. Cost Value

Market value – Today’s market values minus selling costs are used to determine market value. For example, a fully depreciated 15-year-old tractor certainly has a current market value greater than zero. A realistic current market value for this tractor can be obtained with an appraisal, or by looking at current sales of similar tractors online. Similarly, farmland bought 30 years ago likely has a different current market value today. In general, lenders may prefer the use of current market values in a balance sheet for asset valuation.

Cost value – The net book value, or the cost of the item minus accumulated depreciation, is the cost value. For example, a fully depreciated 15-year-old tractor has a cost value of $0 in a cost based balance sheet. No appraisal is needed; only record the cost minus accumulated depreciation. Farmland (a non-depreciable, long term asset) purchased 30 years ago has a balance sheet value of the purchase cost.  In general, accountants prefer cost value balance sheets as a more clear reflection of business success, based on business decisions rather than inflation, depreciation, or appreciation of investments.

In a precisely completed balance sheet, the cost value and the market value columns usually produce different total asset values.

Keys to Completing the Balance Sheet

Several keys can help farmer improve their accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency for completing year-end balance sheets.

  • Complete the balance sheet on the same date each year, usually as of December 31st. The information will never be more accurate than immediately after the end of the year.
  • Inventory all assets, including standard weight and measure units (ie. Lbs, head, bushels, bales, etc).
  • Utilize current market prices for crop and livestock inventories.
  • Calculate cost value for growing crops.
  • Include government payments and insurance indemnities yet to be received in accounts receivable.
  • Apply conservative breeding livestock values, avoiding large year-to-year changes.
  • Maintain a separate, easy-to-update depreciation schedule for depreciable assets.

Balance Sheet Tools

Balance Sheet Ratios to Evaluate Financial Health

The scorecard uses these three accounting statement to determine financial ratios and measurements to benchmark a farm operation against acceptable industry standards.

References:

Hachfeld, G. A., D.B. Bau, C.R. Holcomb. 2016. Balance Sheet. Farm Financial Series, #1, University of Minnesota Extension.

Langemeier, M. R. 2011. Balance Sheet—A Financial Management Tool. MF-291, Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University Extension. Available online at: www.agmanager.info

Grain Marketing Webinars Offered

Do you want to do a better job of pricing your corn and soybeans? Is grain marketing a confusing and daunting task? If so, this webinar is for you!

Ohio State University Extension is offering a two-session webinar focused on helping farmers become better grain marketers. Participants will have a better understanding of risk, marketing tools, and the development of written marketing plans. These workshops are funded through a North Central Risk Management Education Grant.  Additional information can be found at http://go.osu.edu/grainplan.

Participants will learn to identify their personal risk tolerance and their farm’s financial risk capacity. Both of these are important in developing a successful grain marketing plan. Participants will also learn how crop insurance products effect marketing decisions and effect risk capacity. Grain marketing consists of understanding and managing many pieces of information. Information on the different grain marketing contracts will be presented. These include basis, hedging, cash, futures, and option contracts.  Additionally, participants will be provided an example of a grain marketing plan and the fundamental principles that should be included.

The courses will be offered on two consecutive Tuesdays, starting on March 12, 2019.  For specific times, as well as program registration instruction, go to http://go.osu.edu/grainwebinar. Cost for the program is $30.00.

To request additional information or have questions answered, contact Amanda Bennett at 937-440-3945 or at bennett.709@osu.edu

Ohio Farm Custom Rate Survey 2018

by Barry Ward, Leader, Production Business Management, OSU Extension, Ag and Natural Resources

 A large number of Ohio farmers hire machinery operations and other farm related work to be completed by others. This is often due to lack of proper equipment, lack of time or lack of expertise for a particular operation.  Many farm business owners do not own equipment for every possible job that they may encounter in the course of operating a farm and may, instead of purchasing the equipment needed, seek out someone with the proper tools necessary to complete the job. This farm work completed by others is often referred to as “custom farm work” or more simply “custom work”. A “custom rate” is the amount agreed upon by both parties to be paid by the custom work customer to the custom work provider.

Custom farming providers and customers often negotiate an agreeable custom farming machinery rate by utilizing Extension surveys results as a starting point. Ohio State University Extension collects surveys and publishes survey results from the Ohio Farm Custom Survey every other year. This year we are updating our published custom farm rates for Ohio.

We need your assistance in securing up-to-date information about farm custom work rates, machinery and building rental rates and hired labor costs in Ohio.

Please provide rates that are current including the latest price increases or planned increases.

An online option for this survey is available at: OhioFarmCustomRatesSurvey2018

or: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cJa90YBYdWOa6DX

We would ask you to please respond even if you know only have a few operations with data.  We want information on actual rates, either what you paid to hire work or what you charged to perform custom work.

Deadline for Surveys to be returned: March 31st, 2018

Tax Webinar for Farmers and Farmland Owners

by Barry Ward, OSU Extension, Director, OSU Income Tax Schools

Are you getting the most from your tax return? Farmers and farmland owners that wish to increase their tax knowledge should consider this webinar that will address tax issues important to them. Mark your calendars for January 29th, 2018 to participate in this 2 hour webinar from 10 am to noon.

The webinar, which focuses on tax issues specific to farmers and farmland owners will offer insight into topics such as new and proposed tax legislation as well as buying and selling farmland.

OSU Income Tax Schools which are a part of OSU Extension and the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will offer this webinar on January 29th from 10-noon.

The two-hour program, which will be presented in a live webinar format, is targeted towards farmers and farmland owners who file their own farm taxes or simply wish to arm themselves with more tax information that will help them to better plan for tax filing.

Topics to be discussed during the webinar include:

  • New and Proposed Tax Legislation
  • Ag Income and Expenses
  • Net Operating Losses
  • Buying and Selling Farmland
  • Rental Property
  • Demolition of Structures

The cost for the webinar is $35. To register for this live webinar, go to https://farmoffice.osu.edu/osu-income-tax-schools

Registration will be open on December 15th.

The OSU Income Tax School Program is a part of OSU Extension and the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.

Agricultural Tax Issues Webinar

by Barry Ward, OSU Extension, Director, OSU Income Tax Schools

Tax practitioners, farmers, land owners are encouraged to attend the Ag and Natural Resources Income Tax Issues Webinar on December 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The event is sponsored by Ohio State University Extension and participants can attend the webinar at host locations throughout Ohio.

The webinar, which will focus on issues specific to farm tax returns related to agriculture and natural resources, will offer insight into topics such as net operating losses and buying and selling farmland.

The six-hour program will be presented in a live webinar format. Tax preparers, as well as individuals who file their own farm taxes are invited to attend.

The program is an intermediate-level course and our target audience is tax preparers whose clients include farmers and rural landowners. Farmers who prepare and file their own taxes will also benefit from the webinar.

Topics to be discussed during the webinar include:

  • Agricultural Income and Expenses
  • Net Operating Losses
  • Transfer of Farm Assets
  • Buying and Selling Farmland
  • Rental Property
  • Farm Employees
  • Self-Employment Tax and Social Security Benefits

The cost for the one-day school is $130, and applications have been made for the following continuing education credits:

  • Accountancy Board of Ohio, CPAs (6 hours)
  • Office of Professional Responsibility, IRS (6 hours)
  • Supreme Court of Ohio, Attorneys (5 hours)

Registration includes the Agricultural Tax Issues book. The deadline to register is Dec. 11 to make sure participants will receive the workbook in the mail before the workshop. The live webinar, which will also feature a real-time Q-and-A, can be viewed at several host locations statewide and will include lunch.

Participants also have the option to view the webinar from home if unable to attend a host location.

For those who choose not to attend at a host location, a web address for the webinar will be sent if registered a week in advance of the Dec. 18 presentation. However, all participants must be registered by Dec. 11 if they want to be sure they receive the workbook before the webinar.

Host locations include:

Auglaize County, OSU Extension Office, 208 S. Blackhoof St., Wapakoneta

Clermont County, OSU Extension Office, 1000 Locust St., Owensville

Fairfield County, OSU Extension Office, 831 College Ave., Lancaster

Miami County, OSU Extension Office, 201 W. Main St., Old Courthouse, Troy

Noble County, OSU Extension South Central Region Office, 16714 Wolf Run Road, Caldwell

Putnam County, OSU Extension Office, 1206 E. Second St., Ottawa

Wayne County, Fisher Auditorium, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster

Wyandot County, Elks Lodge, 320 E. Wyandot Ave., Upper Sandusky

More information on the workshop, including how to register, can be found at go.osu.edu/AgIssuesReg. For more information contact Barry Ward at 614-688-3959 or ward.8@osu.edu

New and Small Farm Courses offered

Are you a small farm landowner wondering what to do with your acreage?  Are you interested in exploring options for land uses but not sure where to turn or how to begin?  Have you considered adding an agricultural or horticultural enterprise but you just are not sure of what is required, from an equipment, labor, and/or management perspective?  Are you looking for some place to get some basic farm information?  If you or someone you know answered yes to any of these questions, then the Ohio State University New and Small Farm College program may be just what you are looking for.

The Ohio State University New and Small Farm College is an 8 session short course that will be held one night a week.  The 2018 Ohio New and Small Farm College program will be held in two locations across the state including:

The Butler County location will be held at the OSU Extension Butler County office, 1802 Princeton Road Hamilton, OH.  Classes will be held on Thursdays beginning January 18 and concluding March 8, 2018. A farm tour will be held, Saturday, March 10, 2018. Inclement weather makeup date will be March 15. For more information, contact the Butler County Extension office at 513-887-3722.

The Scioto County location will be held at the Shawnee State University – Massie Hall, 940 Second Street Portsmouth, OH.  Classes will be held on Mondays beginning January 29 and concluding March 19, 2018. A farm tour will be held Saturday, March 31, 2018.

Inclement weather makeup date: March 26. For more information, contact Scioto County Extension office at 740-354-7879.

Both college locations will start each evening at 6:00 PM with a light dinner with the nightly presentations beginning at 6:30 PM and concluding at 9:00PM. 

Topics to be covered include:

  • Getting Started (goal setting, resource inventory, business planning)
  • Appropriate Land Use
  • Where to Get Assistance
  • Natural Resource Management (soils, ponds, woodlands and wildlife)
  • Legal Issues
  • Insurance
  • Business Structure
  • Finances & Record Keeping
  • Marketing Alternatives
  • Enterprise exploration of livestock and horticulture opportunities

The cost of the course is $150 per person, $100 for an additional family member.  Each participating family will receive a small farm college notebook plus additional materials.  Registrations are now being accepted. You can register online at https://agnr.osu.edu/small-farm-programs/new-and-small-farm-college . For more details, about the course and/or a registration form, contact Tony Nye, Small Farm Program Coordinator 937-382-0901 or email at nye.1@osu.edu.