Law/Tax/Business Guides For Farm Businesses

The time spent navigating the legal and regulatory aspects of managing a farm business can make a farmer wonder when there’ll be time to actually “farm”.  There is no substitute for the advice of an attorney, and by making these resources available, Friends of Family Farmers is not in any way providing legal advice.  But the sites and guides below at least provide a broad understanding of many legal, taxation and business issues that all farmers face.

Information Warehouses:

• Ag Risk Education Library – Insurance Information & Crop-Specific Enterprise Budgets
• Agriculture Network of Information
• Center for Agricultural Law & Taxation – At Iowa State University
• Drake Law Library’s Agricultural Law Resources
• Farmers’ Legal Action Group Incorporated (FLAG) – Conservation Programs, Contract Farming, Credit, Estate Planning, Marketing, Organics, Tax Issues and more…
• Farming and the Law - resources from the Greenhorns on worker’s comp, internships and apprenticeships
• National Agricultural Law Center – At University of Arkansas
• New England Small Farm Institute Publications
• Rural Tax Education

Guides:

• Chart of Business Forms: Compare the pros and cons LLCs, Corporations, Sole Proprietorship and more.
• Business Planning Resources from OSU and SARE.  Includes a one-page business plan and one-page financial sheet from Farm Credit East.
• The State of Internships in Oregon: A general explanation of internships, apprenticeships and employment models for training young farmers.
• Business Planning from OSU Extension and SARE.  Includes a model One-Page Business Plan from Farm Credit East and the extensive Growing Farms: Successful Whole Farm Management Planning Book, and AgTools, OSU’s free online computer programs that help farmers make strategic, long-term decisions on a whole farm basis.
• New American FoodShed Guide Decision Tree helps beginning farmers decide how to organize as a business, how to pursue financing, which advisors to seek and how to market.
• A Legal Guide for Wisconsin Farmers Secured Transactions, Landlord/Tenant, Working with an Attorney, Farm Foreclosure, Bankruptcy, Genera
• A Legal Guide to the Business of Farming in Vermont – Estate Planning, Leasing, Land Use Regulation, Farm Labor, Environmental Regulation, Insurance, Organics, On-Farm Processing & Marketing
• Guide to Farming in New York State – Leasing/Buying, Land Conditions, Infrastructure, Financing, Risk Management, Insurance, Law, Environmental Regulations
• A Guide to Farming in Pennsylvania – Pre-Venture Planning, Production, Marketing, Value-Added Agriculture, Farm Transition
• Drake University’s Landowner’s Guide to Sustainable Farm Leasing
• Environmental Laws Affecting State Agriculture – From the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Research Foundation (NASDA)
• Illinois Direct Farm Business – Structuring & Setting Up a Direct Farm Business, Marketing & Managing, Taxation, Labor, Regulation by Product Category/Activity
• US Department of Labor Employment Law Guide
• Small Farm Tax Guide
• FLAG’s great workbook on farm internships>>>

Blogs:

• Agricultural Law
• Midwest Agricultural Law Guide
• United States Agricultural & Food Law and Policy Blog

Note: At 900+ pages, Neil E. Harl’s Agricultural Law Manual is one of the most comprehensive, albeit technical, manuals a farmer/lawyer could own.