Today’s Harvest Blog

Between rate increases, tightening inventories, market volatility and the rising cost of inputs, the agricultural equipment and financing landscape is entering a distinctly different environment following years of unprecedented demand and high farm profitability. As we head into year-end, here are the major themes and factors impacting machinery purchases, financing activity and overall buyer sentiment.

What’s the beef with Livestock Risk Protection? Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) has grown in popularity as the U.S. has experienced record high beef prices. LRP is a subsidized risk management program designed to insure against unexpected declines in livestock prices. 

In November 2022, Massachusetts voters approved an amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution to impose an additional 4% surtax on the portion of a taxpayer’s taxable income that exceeds $1 million. Shortly after, seven other states introduced their own legislation targeting high-income earners including Connecticut and New York. Here are the details to help your tax planning.

The USDA and its partner vendors have announced the opening of the application period for Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which directs USDA to provide financial assistance to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs prior to January 2021.