Tag: Agriculture

Why I want to End the Oregon Death Tax…

I have been working on a campaign to End the Oregon Death Tax for about 6 months now.  It all started when I got wind of a small gathering in my town to talk about the death tax and an initiative that was hopefully going to make it to the ballot this coming November (with a lot of work, signature gathering, money, etc.)  I feel like I’m a fairly informed person, I love to learn and read and try very hard to keep up on what is going on, especially when it comes to issues that are close to the agricultural industry.  So when I heard a lot of facts about the death tax in Oregon, I realized that this issue was much more detrimental and harmful than I ever expected.

I know that I have written a blog about this issue already (as have many of my friends) but I feel as though lately I’m getting more and more questions about why this is important and more and more statements from people about why farmers have never been and aren’t going to be effected by this and it’s all about big rich terrible slimy investors saving in taxes.  I’m sick of people asking me how much my farm is worth, and then telling me that there is no way I will reach an exemption.  I’m sick of people looking at the death tax as a non-issue just because it doesn’t affect them since they aren’t millionaires.  So here you go, all you naysayers!  Here is my honest story about why the Death Tax WILL affect me someday.
  1. To those who say farmers have never been and won’t ever be affected…
    I personally know of farms that have been split up because of the death tax liability.  They have had to sell off portions of their farm, split up a family business, and take huge hits personally because of a death of a parent.  To those who want specific examples, that is as specific as I will get because it’s their story to tell. 
  2. To those who want to know how much my farm is worth and if I will reach the exemption…
    I want to give you an example of a typical farm in my area. 1000 acres of prime farm ground, market value can be upwards of $10k-15k per acre.  Right off the bat with only the land, not including buildings, houses, shop equipment, harvesting equipment, large tractors, trucks, etc, you are hitting $12 million dollars.  So let’s say that both parents die, and the agricultural exemption (even though no one can really explain it to me clearly) is at $7.5million per person.  If we take a conservative land value amount along with all the other things involved in running a farm you’re still left with about $3 million that is taxable, usually at a rate around 10%.  Are you still doing the math?  It’s $300,000…in cash…that you and your siblings as heirs have to pay to the state within 9 months.  Do you have that kind of cash??  Or do you expect a farm to have that kind of cash when over farms are usually very leveraged against that land just to make their operating loans every year?  And just as a reminder, majority of these farms are generational, so as it is in my case, more than likely the family a generation before has already paid the tax on that same base of land.
  3. Death Tax is a non-issue and won’t affect anyone other than millionaires…
    This tax, doesn’t just tax the rich, it inhibits and discourages successful business to come into our state.  Oregon is becoming an increasingly business unfriendly state and I think this is another way that we can start to turn that around.  You can’t have a healthy economy without jobs, and you can’t have jobs without businesses willing to come in, invest in our state, and plan to stay for the long haul.  I can’t move my business, but I have to tell you that after paying income taxes, after dealing with measure 66 and 67, there is a large part of me that wishes I could pick up my soil and move it to a state that sees the common sense piece that in Oregon we are missing.  I am not a millionaire, my dad is not a millionaire, and my grandfather was not a millionaire.  We are farmers who just want to be able to farm the soil that generations of blood sweat and tears have given to us.
As you can see I’m passionate about this issue because I honestly see it as a true road block for my future here in Oregon agriculture.  Please take the time to look at the issue, contact me if you have questions and I will try to help to clarify, and please help us to get this out of our state so we can start healing and making Oregon’s economy better for family business.  Also just fyi…signed petitions are due July 6th!

Life Lesson from Corn

As I continue down the path of being the next in my family to take over our farming operation, it seems like responsibilities continue to pile on. Usually I’m getting a handle on one thing, when something new comes up and seems to overwhelm me again and the cycle continues. I’m not complaining about this cycle, I know that I have a lot to learn about this whole farming thing, and I love that I’m always learning and growing. So did you know…corn roots grow over six feet down into the ground?!! By stressing the plants, farmers are able to persuade corn roots to grow further into the ground to get nutrients. In other words by stressing the corn, you get a great root system that helps keep the plant strong and growing throughout the season.

I think of this in relation to my life, growing up and now living back there and trying to grow as a woman, farmer, and business person. As my responsibilities become larger and larger, I’m finding that stress is coming right along with all of that. It’s stress that I know will subside as I get better at my new jobs in our operation, but recently it’s been really getting to me. We recently got a new linear irrigation system, one that I’m in charge of learning how to run, running, and taking care of. Well ever since the darn thing started running I’ve been getting up 2 or 3 times a night in a panic, having a dream that the linear was walking out across the prairie with nothing stopping it! Although in reality it would hit many many trees if it did start to walk away; it doesn’t matter, it’s 3am and I’m in a panic! I also have been known to sleep walk and talk, so I’m just waiting for the night that I wake up walking out my door, screaming for the linear to stop, and headed out across the prairie!!

So when I heard this little corn fact the other day; that farmers actually stress corn to make their roots grow deep and strong so that they can produce more corn and more food per plant, I had to smile. I think that’s exactly what I’m going through right now! Although I’m not having a ball waking up in the middle of the night worrying about what is going on out in the field, I know that my roots are growing deeper as I become more and more responsible for things on the farm. This is what I want, and someday the linear won’t be what keeps me up at night, it will be something else that I probably can’t even imagine up right now. The linear…”Ha” I’ll scoff, “piece of cake!”