Understanding your cost of production is crucial for benchmarking your performance, evaluating future purchases and making better marketing and management decisions.

Calculating the Cost of Production for a Cow-Calf Operation

A CPA can help with your bookkeeping, taxes, accounting and business planning, but bringing one on board can involve a significant expense. Here’s what you need to know before hiring one.

How Much Will a CPA Cost My Agricultural Business?

Choosing the right business structure can affect your liability if something goes wrong, your taxes, how you pass the business onto the next generation and your flexibility when bringing in investors. 

How to Choose the Right Business Structure for Your Farm or Ranch 

If you sell commodity futures to protect crop earnings, you’ll likely receive a copy of Form 1099-B from your broker. Here’s how it works and what it means for your tax bill.

A Guide to Form 1099-B and Reporting Commodity Trade Earnings on Your Taxes

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has big changes in store for ag producers, particularly when it comes to their taxes. Keep an eye on the following changes to minimize your tax bill.

How Will the OBBBA Tax Changes Affect Agricultural Producers?

These ag-friendly clean vehicle, green renovation and other green tax credits won’t be around forever. Make sure to claim them while they’re still available.

Claim These Green Tax Credits Before They Expire

Equine insurance helps protect owners from devastating financial losses. But before you buy a policy, you’ll want to know what types of coverage exist and what’s included.

A Simple Guide to Equine Insurance

Getting these documents together before meeting with an expert can save you time and money and lead to better decisions.

A Document Checklist for Farm and Ranch Succession Planning

A trial balance makes it easy to scan your books for potential mistakes. Here’s how to prepare one properly.

Trial Balance: Best Practices, Definitions and Examples

Donations can benefit the local community while potentially allowing farmers to reduce their tax bill. Here’s how to file for them properly.

How to File Form 8283 for Food and Other Donations

To elect S corp tax status, you’ll need to file Form 2553, ‘Election by a Small Business Corporation,’ first. Here’s how it works.

How to Elect S Corp Status With Form 2553

Livestock leases can help owners earn additional income while providing lessees with new genetics and expanded production without having to purchase more animals outright.

A Simple Guide to Livestock Leases

Electing S corporation status offers a unique combination: the tax benefits of a partnership or LLC, the liability protection of a corporation, and potential savings on self-employment taxes. 


S Corporation Status: A Decision Guide for Agricultural Producers

Don’t want to pay your suppliers too early, but also don’t want to pay them too late? It’s time to take a closer look at accounts payable.

Accounts Payable (AP): Definitions, Best Practices and Examples 

Holding onto your receipts might not seem like a big deal at first, but it can help you get funded, shrink your tax bill, encourage better financial habits and give you peace of mind.

Five Reasons Why it Pays to Hold Onto Your Receipts

If you lease your livestock or pasture to other farmers, it pays to learn how the ‘passive activity’ loss rules work—especially if you have any losses to report.

How to File Form 8582 for Passive Activity Losses

Caitlyn Kelly

Succession planning is about much more than “handing over the keys.” It has huge tax implications for retiring agricultural producers and their successors.

Tax Strategies for Farm & Ranch Succession Planning

Federal crop insurance is a crucial risk management tool, but the way it works can get complicated.

A Simple Guide to Crop Insurance

Having these records ready in a go bag can maximize your chances of securing disaster assistance for your ag business, and in some cases even accelerate your application.

Disaster-Proof Your Records: A Checklist

A state-by-state breakdown of tax credits, deductions, exclusions and other tax breaks farmers, ranchers and ag businesses can apply to their state tax refund.

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