Governor’s Conference On Delaware Agriculture Feb. 23
DOVER, Del. The seventh
Governor’s Conference on Dela
ware Agriculture will be held Fri
day, Feb. 23, at the Modem Ma
turity Center in Dover.
Sponsored by the Department
of Food and Resource Economics
at the University of Delaware,
this yearly conference serves to
highlight the economic contribu
tions of agriculture to Delaware’s
economy as well as bring togeth
er interested parties to focus on
issues related to the agricultural
sector in the First State.
The theme of this year’s con
ference is “Dealing with Risk,
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) Farmers selling agricul
tural conservation easements
want to get the best price they
can for their development rights.
But capita] gains tax often takes
a big portion of the sale price
right off the closing table.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Ag
riculture Sam Hayes announced
options,
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Topics to be explored include
strategies for risk management,
research in biotechnology, pros
pects for Delaware agriculture
and agricultural entrepreneur
ship on Delmarva.
The event will begin with reg
istration at 7 a.m. Following the
Friends of Agriculture breakfast,
which begins at 7:IS a.m., the
first conference speaker will be
Dr. Timothy A. Woods, assistant
Cooperative Extension professor
at die University of Kentucky,
who will discuss “Entrepreneur-
Easement Sellers Can Keep More
that the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Agriculture (PDA) has a
way for sellers to increase what
they get to keep, and not just
what they get, when selling ease
ments.
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ship in Agriculture.”
At 8:45 a.m., a discussion on
“Understanding Strategies to
Deal with Risk in Agriculture,”
will be moderated by Dr. Don
Tilmon, Extension specialist for
farm management. At 10:20
a.m., Dr. Robin Morgan, associ
ate dean for research at UD’s
College of Agriculture and Natu
ral Resources, will talk about
“Research in Biotechnology.”
From 10:50 a.m. until noon, a
panel discussion, moderated by
Gordon Johnson, Kent County
Extension agriculture educator,
will consider “Agricultural En
Under a new option developed
by PDA, farmers can sell ease
ments using installment pur
chase agreements (IPAs) that
defer all or part of the purchase
price for up to 30 years. In the
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One panelist will be Maryland
Congressman Wayne Gilchrist,
who represents the Eastern
Shore part of that state. He will
talk about his efforts to help cre
ate opportunities for agriculture
on Delmarva, to preserve farm
land and to protect environ
mental quality.
Also taking part in the panel
discussion will be Ted and Maria
Bobola, owners of a diverse agri
cultural operation that includes
growing agronomic crops, vege
tables, field ornamentals, green
house plants and poultry. They
interim, sellers receive interest
twice a year on the outstanding
balance. As with a municipal
bond, interest payments are
exempt from federal and Penn
sylvania state income taxes.
Garst® was the first to
introduce IT® hybrids for use
with the CLEARFIELD*
Production System nearly a
decade ago. Today, Garst
technology still leads the way,
With Garst IT hybrids,
there’s no yield drag. So, you
can keep your options open
and use LIGHTNING®
herbicide for better weed
control, and still get
stronger plants and a
better yield
High yield with no
yield drag; that’s what
Garst IT hybrids are all
about. For expanded weed
control options and plenty of
high yield potential, it’s gotta
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To learn more about Garst
IT hybrids, see your local
Garst Guy or cadi toll-free;
1-888-GO-GARST.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 3,2001-A23
www.garstseed.com
also run a pick-your-own straw
berries operation, a retail flower
business, and gift shop.
Lunch will be served at noon.
The conference will resume at 1
p.m. at which time Gov. Ruth
Ann Minner has been invited to
speak about “Prospects for Agri
culture in Delaware.” An open
forum from 1:30 to 2 p.m. will
complete the day’s activities.
The cost of the conference is
$3O, and pre-registration is re
quired by Feb. 14. For more in
formation, call ALison De Paola
at (302) 831-6540, or e-mail her
at adepaola@udel.edu.
By deferring payment of the
purchase price for up to 30 years,
IP As are designed to allow sellers
to defer capital gains tax for a
similar period. For many sellers,
that means they’ll never pay cap
ital gains tax in their lifetimes.
Heirs can sell IP As in the munic
ipal bond market as a way of
paying estate taxes or capital
gains taxes.
Capital gains tax is
due when a seller re
ceives payment for ap
preciated land or other
assets. Capital gain is
the difference between
the sale price and the
value of the property
when it was first
bought or inherited.
The IRS taxes capital
gains at a maximum
rate of 20 percent, and
Pennsylvania at a
maximum 2.8 percent
rate.
Howard County,
Maryland, has used
30-year IPAs to buy
easements on 9,200
acres from 81 sellers
since 1989. Similar
programs are under
way in Harford and
Anne Arundel coun
ties, Maryland; Virgin
ia Beach, Virginia; and
Burlington County,
New Jersey.
PDA is recommend
ing IPAs to county
farmland preservation
boards because the
structure minimizes
cash needed to close
on purchases. The
rural character of
many parts of Penn
sylvania will be lost
forever unless develop
ment rights are pur
chased soon. IPAs per
mit as many as five
times more purchases
in the short term than
if cash were paid for
each acquisition.
For more informa
tion about installment
purchase, contact your
county farmland pres
ervation board or Ray
mond C. Pickering, di
rector of PDA’s
Bureau of Farmland
Preservation, at (717)
783-3167 or rpicke
ring@state.pa.us.
To discuss tax treat
ment of easement
sales, contact Michael
W. Evanish, manager
of the Pennsylvania
Farm Bureau’s MSC
Business Services, at
(717) 731-3546 or
mwevanish®
pfb.com.