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changes affecting farm autos, single purpose agricultural structures and farm buildings.
Autos used on the farm and home computers will be moved from threeyear to five-year property. “When farmers buy a new car or light truck, they will be forced to write it off over a longer period of time under the new tax bill,” explained Mr. Geyer.
Single purpose horticultural and agricultural structures, such as farrowing or brooder houses, will move from five-year to seven-year property under the tax changes.
The depreciation of farm buildings will change from the current status of 19-year to 31.5-year property. “This means that it’s going to take longer to recover costs of investments in certain types of agricultural structures,” Mr. Geyer said. “It could make it slightly more expensive to produce poultry and hogs.”
In addition, the Tech economist expects the tax changes to make it more expensive for farmers to buy cattle and certain kinds of equipment. “The changes won’t have an immediate impact,” he said, “because we’re not seeing expansion in these areas anyway.”
Mr. Geyer feels the bill may have a positive impact on grain producers, but a more negative impact upon purebred livestock producers.
To best take advantage of the new provisions, he suggested that farmers push their income into future years if at all possible. “Because the tax rates are going to be lower, farmers should even put off their income to 1988, instead of 1987,” he explained.
He predicted that, on the whole, the new tax bill will cause only slight repercussions. ‘It’s going to mean a little change around the margins to most farmers,” he concluded.
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