USDA Resumes Continuous CRP Enrollment

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A new window has opened for sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).  USDA will resume allowing continuous CRP sign-ups from June 4 through August 17.

According to USDA, producers with contracts that will mature Sept. 30 and have a contract term of 14 years or less will also be able to enroll for a one-year extension during the same sign-up period.  However, producers with contracts that would breach the 15-year limit with a one-year extension are not eligible.

According to Pro Farmer’s Jim Wiesemeyer, USDA has not allowed continuous sign-ups under CRP so far in fiscal year 2018 as it sought to keep CRP acres under the cap of 24 million acres.

Limited priority practices are available for continuous enrollment, including grassed waterways, filter strips, riparian buffers, wetland restoration and others, USDA says.

Current CRP enrollment is about 22.7 million acres.  USDA has not published the number of acres in the CRP since September 2017 when there were 23.43 million acres enrolled in the program.

“There were 2.51 million acres scheduled to expire as of Sept. 30 while the FY 2017 continuous sign-up resulted in 1.185 million acres enrolled in the program with contracts to start Oct. 1, 2017,” Wiesemeyer says.

The CRP program has long been accused of inflating land prices.  USDA plans to combat that with updated soil rental rates for annual rental payments and will not issue any incentive payments.

–Anna-Lisa Laca, Farm Journal, LandOwner Newsletter June 28, 2018

 

RLI LANDU Education Week

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2018 LANDU - Greg GoodGreg Good (back row), CLB Sales Associate and Perryton Branch Office Manager, recently attended the Realtor Land Institute LANDU Education Week in Arlington, TX.

June 11, 2018 (Chicago) – The Realtors® Land Institute (RLI), an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors®, is proud to announce a record-setting number of land real estate professionals in attendance at their annual LANDU Education Week. Fifty attendees from fourteen states gathered in Arlington, TX, last week to gain top-notch expertise through RLI’s Land University (LANDU) Education Program. Twenty-one of those students completed all 6 courses being offered towards the elite Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) Designation. READ PRESS RELEASE

What the New Tax Law Means for Agriculture

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New article May 16, 2018 by Farm Credit Bank of Texas (land.com)

The largest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in three decades went into effect this year, impacting farmers, ranchers and other rural landowners in a variety of ways. For the most part, financial experts anticipate benefits for these groups.

“The 2018 tax law changes include several items that I feel will be beneficial to agricultural producers,” says Burl Lowery, a Brownwood, Texas, certified public accountant and director of Central Texas Farm Credit. “The increase in the exemption in estate and generation-skipping taxes to $11.2 million in 2018 will allow more farmland to be passed to future generations with less or no estate tax.”  READ ARTICLE

Investing in Land for Retirement

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March 8, 2018 Realtors Land Institute

Choosing how to save for retirement can be a decision that takes years. After all, that’s the money that you’ll be living on during your golden years. Most people stick to 401ks and stocks, but what many people don’t know is that you can invest in land real estate to save for retirement. Investing in land real estate can be a great way to save money long-term, but with any investment, you need to know what type of land to invest in, what sort of returns you can expect, and what to avoid when investing in land real estate.

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Breaking Down Mineral Rights

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March 14, 2018, Realtor Land Institute Post

Mineral rights are so complex that most of the time, people would instead hire a lawyer to deal with them. The bad news is, there is a lot of truth in that statement. Mineral rights can be tied up in tricky deeds going back generations. The good news? We’ve collected the most commonly asked questions about mineral rights to help you get a better understanding of one of the most complex issues in the land industry.

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Texas Bankers Speak Up on Land Values

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Agricultural Survey…Quarterly Survey of Agricultural Credit Conditions in the Eleventh Federal Reserve District. The Eleventh Federal Reserve District consists of Texas, northern Louisiana, and southern New Mexico.

The survey shows, dryland and ranchland values both increasing while irrigated land values dropped. See the entire report here.