Saving money, saving the farm among Fort Wayne Farm Show seminar topics

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — “Saving” is a common thread running through many of the educational seminars at the 2023 Fort Wayne Farm Show.

But in order to help farmers think about saving their farms, Dan Gordon, of Gordon & Associates PC, with offices in Fort Wayne, Bluffton, Rochester and Huntington, is going to talk about losing.

“I will tell you what those five ways are,” said Gordon, who will present “Five Ways to Lose the Family Farm,” at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at the farm show.

“The first one is death taxes. The second issue is family disharmony and intrafamily problems. The third way that the farm can be lost is for long-term care expenses. The fourth one is liability. The fifth one is a little more broad. It is just governmental regulation,” he said.

Gordon said that farmers may not consider government regulations as something that can “take” a farm, but when regulations impinge on the use and profitability of that farm, then the farmer has lost the use or profitability of at least part of his or her farm.

“If you’ve got a situation where the Waters of the U.S. ruling, the new definition that came out recently, declares that a portion of your farm ground is a wetland or is part of the waters of the U.S., has that taken away some aspect of the farm or farm operation? If zoning rules say sorry, no CAFOs in this area, or sorry, we don’t like wind turbines or solar panels, the impact of government regulation on your land may not take the land, but it has reduced your ability to farm the way you want to,” he said.

Gordon, who started practicing law in 1976, said he has seen more family disputes than in the past, as well as more families who may want to keep the family farm — but not always in a farming capacity.

“I see more families than I have in the past where they are not trying to get rid of the land, they are just trying to keep it together in a different way so that each of them can leave something to their kids, who may not be on the farm,” he said.

Family feuds and dysfunction can lead to the loss of farms and that is one of the topics Gordon will address.

“What happens if there’s a divorce in the family? What happens if two brothers don’t get along? What happens if one of three children who inherited four pieces of farm ground insists on getting paid that $26,000 an acre they read about that happened out in Iowa, when here in Indiana, the comparable sale would be at $12,000 or $13,000? But they read an article and now they want $26,000 and they can’t work it out?” said Gordon, adding that state law can play a big role in how those family feuds turn out.

“In Indiana, the Indiana law favors the person who wants out. That person can force the sale of everything in order to get their cash. That’s a way that a farm can be lost,” he said.

The 4Rs

Ben Wicker, the executive director of the Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance, will also be addressing saving in his presentation at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, “Maximizing Your Fertilizer Investment.”

The Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance is a collaboration among commodity and agriculture organizations in the state, the Nature Conservancy, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Purdue Extension, the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

“Our focus is on making sure Indiana farmers stay at the forefront of the 4R nutrient management practices and soil health practices that are ultimately going to improve their farm’s viability while reducing nutrient loss,” Wicker said.

“Our mission is healthy soil, clean water, viable farms. We think it’s really important, as an alliance, that we keep all three of those things in balance.”

Wicker said his presentation will cover the steps that farmers can take to maximize every fertilizer dollar.

“We’ll talk about the importance of developing a plan, what kind of information, data, tests, soil testing, that you need to have in place. Then we’ll talk about once you have the best plan in place, how you go out and actually implement that plan is important. That’s where those 4Rs of nutrient management, the overall concept of using the right source at the right rate at the right time in the right place, is critically important,” he said.

“Really dialing in your application is going to be key. Then, once you have your plan, you’ve made the application, what are you doing to document and assess what you’ve done, so you can take that information from your field and compare that to research that’s happening elsewhere and also that is going to be applicable to decisions you are going to make the next year.”

With input prices high, including fertilizer prices, Wicker said farmers are focused on what they can do to maximize their fertilizer applications and save money.

But there is another added benefit of that careful scrutiny by farmers of their fertilizer use and renewed commitment to the 4Rs.

“The interesting thing that continues to drive these conversations is, when you layer that with all the talk that’s happening and the interest around different climate initiatives, we really see a space there for being able to recognize a lot of the same practices we’ve been talking about for water quality that also have that co-benefit toward the climate initiatives, as well,” Wicker said.

“So, we want to make sure that farmers are able to see the whole picture and that they can capture that full value of all the environmental services they are providing with these practices.”

Other seminars include a look at farm management tools for 2023, a primer on the 2023 farm bill and federal policies, a Midwest ag market outlook, a fertilizer and commodity outlook and an update on crop insurance and the farm programs, as well as other sessions.

The educational seminars are provided by the Northeast Indiana Soil and Water Conservation Districts and Purdue Extension.

If You Go…

What: 2023 Fort Wayne Farm Show

When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 17, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 18 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 19.

Where: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, 4000 Parnell Ave., Fort Wayne, Indiana.

How Much: Admission is free.

More Information: See the special section inside the Jan. 13 issue of Indiana AgriNews.