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3EPTEMBER s Rappahannock Record Kilmarnock,VA
Survey results show farm production expenditures climbed slightly in 2010
Helping the YMCA Cooperative Helping Hands member Bill Clark (left) presents a donation to Northern Neck Family YMCA branch executive director Mark Favazza. Cooperative Helping HandsAssociation is the fund-raising organization created by Northern Neck Electric Cooperative employees to support the community. Funds are raised through bake sales and a golf tournament.
After a brief reprieve in 2009, farm production expenditures began climbing again in 2010, according to findings of an annual expenditures survey released in August by U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Farmers reported spending $289 billion in 2010, six-tenths of 1% more than expenditures of $287.4 billion in 2009. By contrast, expenditures for 2009 dropped 6.4% from those of 2008. Increases for specific farm expenditures have different causes, said Virginia Farm Bureau agricultural market analyst Jonah Bowles. “Some farm expenses are directly related to agricultural commodities trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange—feed for livestock and
seed for row crops,” said Bowles. “Reasons for other farm expense increases are not as apparent, but might be explained by a perception that farmers are making a lot of money with these high market prices. And suppliers want to share in that.” Expense items showing increases from last year were tractors and selfpropelled machinery, up 17.2%; rent, up 14.6%; other farm machinery, up 6.4%; seeds and plants, up 5.2%; fertilizer, lime and soil conditioners, up 4.5%; fuels, up 4%; taxes, up 3.8%; supplies and repairs, up 2.6%; and feed, up nine-tenths of 1%. Feed, farm services and labor expenses accounted for more than a third of all producer expenses last year. The largest regional increase in
Virginia Century Farms recognized on new website The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, America’s Lasting Heritage recently launched a website that celebrates U.S. farms in operation by the same family for at least 100 years. The Virginia Century Farm Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, includes some 1,100 such farms. The site, agricultureslastingheritage.org, lists the farms, includes video and written profiles of farming and ranching families and an interactive timeline of
American history and agriculture. Additional century farm families can submit their own profiles for inclusion on the site. “Farms and ranches that have been in the same family, and supporting family members and local communities, for generations stand as testament to the true sustainable character of American agriculture today,” said AFBFA president Bob Stallman. “Farmers and ranchers, by nature, are always committed to leaving the land in better condition for the next generation,” added Stallman, who is also president of the American Farm
Tax & Business Hot Tips
Contributed by Paige Biddlecomb, CPA Did you suffer a casualty loss? When you suffer a sudden, unexpected loss, you may be eligible for a deduction that can reduce your current tax, or in some instances, your prior-year liability. When your personal property is damaged or destroyed as the result of a storm, earthquake, fire, or other casualty, you might be eligible for an itemized deduction. The personal property can include your home, household items, vehicles and boats. You may not deduct losses covered by insurance unless you file a timely claim and you must reduce the loss by any amount of reimbursement. If the property is not completely destroyed, the amount of the loss is the lesser of the adjusted basis of the property or the decrease in fair market value of your property as a result of the casualty. The loss must be reduced by any salvage value and by any insurance or other reimbursement you receive or expect to receive. The adjusted basis of your property is usually your cost, increased or decreased by certain events such as improvements or depreciation. You may determine the decrease in fair market value by appraisal, or if certain conditions are met, by the cost of repairing the property. Individuals are required to claim their casualty and theft losses as an itemized deduction on Form 1040, Schedule A. For property held by you for personal use, once you have subtracted any salvage value and any insurance or other reimbursement, you must subtract $100 from each casualty event that occurred during the year. Then add up all those amounts and subtract 10% of your adjusted gross income from that total to calculate your allowable casualty losses for the year. Casualty losses are generally deductible in the year the casualty occurred. However, if you have a casualty loss from a federally declared disaster that occurred in an area warranting public or individual assistance (or both), you can choose to treat the loss as having occurred in the year immediately preceding the tax year in which the disaster happened, and you can deduct the loss on your return or amended return for that preceding tax year. If your loss deduction is more than your income, you may have a net operating loss. You do not have to be in business to have a net operating loss from a casualty. If you incur a casualty loss, contact your insurance company and tax advisor. Paige Biddlecomb, CPA, is vice president of Chesapeake Accounting Group, PC, 453-7611.
BUSINESS BRIEFS ■ Fisheries meeting The Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) will meet at 9 a.m. Thursday, September 8, at the PRFC building at 222 Taylor Street in Colonial Beach. Public hearings will be held on identification of crab pots, a fee for crab pot identification tags/decals as well as replacements, a new time limit for the commercial crab pot fishery and to determine an oyster license surcharge fee. The full text of the proposals can be found at prfc.state. va.us, or by calling 800-266-3904.
■Vendors needed The Fairfields United Methodist Church Fall Festival Committee seeks crafts people, artists and collectors for the 16th annual Fairfields Fall Festival October 8. The reservation fee is $25 per space prior to September 8, or $35. For applications, contact Jim Holland at 580-4455, or jmanhlnd@hughes.net; Bob Matthews at 580-8216, or plsntpt@kaballero.com; or visit fairfields-umc.org.
Submit BUSINESS BRIEFS to editor@rrecord.com
Bureau Federation. Virginia Century Farms must have been owned by the same family for at least 100 consecutive years; be lived on or farmed by a descendant of the original owner; and gross more
than $2,500 annually from the sale of farm products or be recognized for a genuine silvicultural purpose at the discretion of VDACS. Related applications are available at vdacs.virginia. gov/century/index.shtml.
Procurement seminar slated at RCC Warsaw The Rappahannock Community College Workforce Development Center and the University of Mary Washington Small Business Development Center will present a free government procurement seminar from 2:30 to 5 p.m. September 20 on the Warsaw Campus. Kathy Dolan of the Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST Quotes as of: Close on 8/29/11 AT&T ..............................29.26 Altria (Philip Morris) ..........26.78 BB & T Corp. .................21.74 Bay Banks VA ...................3.10 CPKF-5 ...........................11.65 CSX Corporation ............21.80 Davenport Equity Fund ..10.01 Dominion Resources ......48.97 Eastern VA Bank Shares...2.60 Exxon Mobil ...................74.12 IBM ...............................172.62 Kraft Foods .....................34.57 Omega Protein ................10.98 Sun Trust (Formerly Crestar) 19.77 Union Bankshares...........10.91 Verizon ............................36.14 Wells Fargo .....................25.42 Harbinger Group Inc ......4.62p Quotes and information furnished by Davenport & Company LLC, Rt. 3, Ice House Field, White Stone, VA. (804) 4357705 or 1-800-378-2165.
information about what kinds of goods and services state agencies need, and how business owners can become eligible to supply them by registering with eVA. Register at vastartup.org; or contact Kathryn.Dolan@ vdba.virginia.gov; or call her at 371-0488.
expenditures, 7.3%, occurred on farms in the NASS Southern Region including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina. Farms in the Atlantic Region, which includes Virginia, saw a 1.5% expenditure increase. The national per-farm average expenditure was $131,793. On average, U.S. farmers spent $20,705 on feed, $16,281 on farm services, $12,496 on labor, $11,812 on rent and $11,128 on livestock and poultry purchases. In the Atlantic Region, the per-farm average expenditure was $80,994. On average, farmers in that region spent $17, 062 on feed, $9,846 on farm services, $8,115 on labor, $7,148 on livestock and poultry purchases and $5,507 on farm supplies and repairs.
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