Business : Secretary Naig Applauds Beginning Farmer Program Expansion

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig applauded the Legislature's passage of Senate File 619, which includes an expansion of eligibility for the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit program.

"We should be doing all we can to reduce financial barriers and help young Iowans start a career in agriculture; the Beginning Farmer program is a great way to do just that. This expansion will significantly improve an already successful program that has helped numerous Iowa farmers, both experienced and new," said Secretary Naig. "I want to thank Gov. Reynolds for her proposal to expand the program, as well as legislators for coming together to pass this much-needed legislation to strengthen Iowa's agriculture community."

The Beginning Farmer program reduces some of the financial burdens of getting into farming by providing tax incentives to landowners who transfer or lease agricultural assets to beginning Iowa farmers. The newly-passed legislation would expand the program by doing the following:

• Specifying that an agricultural asset subject to a qualified agreement may include an agricultural improvement (building)
• Removes a requirement that a qualified lease must include agricultural land
• Increases the current 10-year maximum that a taxpayer may participate in the program to 15 years
• Allows a taxpayer to participate in the program through multiple agreements and with more than one qualified beginning farmer
• Allows agreements to be renewed more than once
• Changes the current $50,000 per year limit on the annual amount of tax credits a single taxpayer may earn to $50,000 per year, per agreement limit

More information on the Beginning Farmer program can be found here.