Good reasons to get your farmland appraised

With interest rates so low and farmland values so high, now seems like a smart time to have your farmland appraised by a real estate expert like me, the Farmland Man.

Cash rental rates have increased so fast over the last decade, it may be hard for you to know how fast the value of your land has gone up in comparison. Our appraisals are most useful for real estate financing, estate planning, settlements, or determining listing and sale prices.

I offer prompt, quality appraisals at an affordable price. All my appraisals comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices (USPAP), the most widely recognized set of standards in the real estate industry. I also follow the Uniform Agricultural Appraisal Report format that is widely recognized and accepted within the agricultural finance community.

I am a specialist in farm and rural real estate appraising, including:

• Rural residences


• Bare land


• Recreational land


• Grain handling facilities


• Other farm operations (dairy, hog, farrowing, nursery & finishing units)

If you are interested in selling your land, but you need to know the market value, please contact me the FarmlandMan, at 320-894-7528 or noah@farmlandman.com. I will provide quality help for a reasonable price.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all had a safe and happy 4th of July! I always enjoy the 4th with my family and friends, and I hope you were able to as well.

But the 4th also gets me thinking about our government, and taxes. Your house is one of the best tax-cutting assets, starting with deductions for all or part of your mortgage interest, any points you paid to get the mortgage, and your property tax payments can all cut your annual tax bill.

But perhaps the best tax-saving opportunity comes when you sell your house. Believe it or not, you may qualify to exclude all or part of any gain from the sale of your main home from your income. According to the IRS, to claim the exclusion, you must meet the following ownership and use tests:

* You must have owned the home for at least two years
* You must have lived in the home as your main home for at least two years

From there, if you have a gain from the sale of your main home you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases).

As a professional real estate agent, I can help you navigate this process and save taxes! What a great way to celebrate the 4th!

Happy Independence Day,
Noah Hultgren
TheFarmlandMan.com

2009 Farm Finances

I was just reading through the 2009 FINBIN Report on Minnesota Farm Finances which was recently released by the University of Minnesota's Center for Farm Financial Management. It shows that 2009 was a challenging year, particularly for livestock farms. Though every farm is different, median net farm income per farm was down 63% in 2009 (from $91,242 in 2008 to $33,417 in 2009). Incomes were down substantially for virtually every type and size of farm.

Because of declining profits at dairy farms and a third straight year of lower profits at hog farms, livestock farms of all types struggled to generate enough profit to support family living expenses. With the average price for milk dropping to $13.57 per hundredweight, the median dairy farm earned just $5,384. Hog farm profits fell again, dropping 87% from 2008 to 2009 to $7,415. The median beef farm, which includes cattle finishing and cow-calf operations, actually showed a net farm loss of -$6,534.

While cash crop farms were more profitable than livestock farms, the median earnings of crop farms were essentially cut in half (down 55% from 2008 to 2009) to $60,101. After a strong showing in 2008 (10.5%), the average farm earned a rate of return on assets (ROA) of 3.1% in 2009.

Still, the report states that "the average farm’s net worth increased by over $59,271 while their debt to asset ratio improved slightly to 44%. Most of this increase, however, resulted from increases in asset values rather than earned net worth growth."

Profits were down in all regions of the state, but farms in our Southwestern region earned the highest median farm income in 2009, and land values remain high. If you are interested in capitalizing on the value of your farmland, please contact me for real estate advice. I can provide agricultural appraisals, real estate sales, auctions, or farm management consulting.

Thanks,
Noah, The FarmlandMan
320-894-7528 or noah@farmlandman.com

data in this post taken from the 2009 FINBIN Report on Minnesota Farm Finances; http://www.cffm.umn.edu/Publications/pubs/FarmMgtTopics/2009MinnesotaFarmFinancialUpdate.pdf