Agriculture Commons^™

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Measuring Palatability As A Linear Combination Of Nutrient Levels In Food Items, Jeffrey S. Young

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

It well known that palatability and nutritional quality of foods and/or diets are viewed as being in tension with one another. While there exist multiple measures of healthiness, there are no such measures for tastiness. This gap limits the degree to which researchers can investigate this tension and its implications for dietary behavior and hence public health and nutrition policy. The scope of future work concerning the dietary behavior of Americans would expand greatly if researchers better understood consumers’ willingness to eat certain foods, which matters as much as recommending those foods for them to eat in the first place. …

The Feasibility Of Renewable Natural Gas In New Jersey, Anneliese Dyer, Amelia Christine Miller, Brianna Chandra, Juan Galindo Maza, Carley Tran, Justin Bates, Vicky Olivier, Amy Tuininga

Publications

With traditional natural gas being one of the top options for heating in the United States and the present threat of climate change, there is a demand for an alternative clean fuel source. A Renewable Natural Gas Implementation Decision-Making Conceptual Model was created to provide a framework for considering the feasibility of renewable natural gas (RNG) projects and applied to New Jersey, specifically investigating landfills and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Data from the US EPA’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program and New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection Sewage Sludge databases were used to identify seven landfills and 22 WWTPs as possible …

Analysis Of The Impact Of Central Bank Of Nigeria's Agricultural Intervention Funds On The Economy, E. T. Adamgbe, M. C. Belonwu, E. R. Ochu, I. I. Okafor

Economic and Financial Review

This paper set out to investigate the impact of Central Bank of Nigeria's interventions on the agricultural sector within an economy-wide framework of general equilibrium modelling. The paper adopted a dynamic (recursive), two-sector general equilibrium model of the Nigerian economy with some modifications on the standard model developed by the Centre for Econometric and Applied Research (CEAR) and incorporated the contributions of the CBN's agricultural based interventions as increases in the stock of agricultural capital to have a more robust size of interventions into the agricultural sector. The SAM used for the CGE model analysis was derived from the updated …

Toxic Effects Of Lead Disposal In Water: An Analysis Of Tri Facility Releases, Patrick Koval

Economics Department Working Papers

Using county-level TRI data from 2003 to 2016, I find evidence that lead emissions in water adversely affect birth weights within the emitting county, especially with respect to the percentage of births considered low birth weight within that county (less than 2,500 grams). I find that a one percent increase in lead emissions per square mile increases the proportion of low birth weights by 0.27 percentage points. For a county with an average number of births in a particular year, this one percent increase in lead per square mile translates to an additional $475,000 in hospitalization costs from complications with …

When Discharge Of Indebtedness Occurs In Bankruptcy, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

The farm debt crisis of the 1980’s left numerous legacies, not the least of which is the continuing discharge of indebtedness from formal and informal resolutions of excessive debt. The various rules on when discharge of indebtedness occurs have created surprising and painful results for some taxpayers.

Single Class Of Stock In S Corporations, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

Almost from the day of enactment of Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code in 1958, the single class of stock requirement has generated questions that have led to extensive litigation, repeated attempts to address the issues by regulation and numerous rulings in an effort to resolve the issues involved. The major area of concern has been the line between debt securities and equity interests, particularly where the debt securities represented shareholder loans.

When Discharge Of Indebtedness Occurs If The Debtor Is Not In Bankruptcy, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

As was noted in the March 30, 1990 issue of Agricultural Law Digest, whether discharge of indebtedness occurs for debtors in bankruptcy depends upon the chapter of the Bankruptcy Code. For Chapter 12 debtors, discharge of indebtedness takes place upon completion of payments under the plan. For debtors not in bankruptcy, the rules for when discharge of indebtedness take place are different and the consequences are also quite different.

Transfer Of Residence With Continued Occupancy, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

The rule has been well established that a transfer of a residence to a spouse with occupancy by the transferring spouse until death, would not result in inclusion of the value of the residence in the transferor's gross estate under a theory of a retained life estate. The courts have consistently required proof of at least an implied agreement between the husband and wife (assuming the transferring spouse continued occupancy) before that spouse is held to have retained possession or enjoyment so as to require inclusion of the residence in the gross estate. If the transferor is to prevail, it …

Taxing Joint Tenancy Property, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

Although joint tenancy (and tenancy by the entirety in the few states where that form of co-ownership is recognized) is apparently used less frequently than three or four decades ago, joint ownership is still widely used, particularly for real property co-ownership. A recent decision has focused attention on the issue of income tax basis of joint tenancy (or tenancy by the entirety) property after the death of the first joint tenant to die.

Deferred Payment Sales: Amt Liability, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Since enactment of the Installment Sales Revision Act of 1980, which permitted the installment sale of grain and livestock, questions have been raised regarding the continuing availability of the deferred payment procedure established by cases and rulings. In recent years, the importance of the question of whether both procedures can be used has been magnified by the 1986 enactment subjecting installment sales of inventory property to potential liability for alternative minimum tax.6 A recent IRS technical advice memorandum (TAM) has provided some insight to the IRS national office position on the two issues — (1) are installment sales of inventory …

Gifts Of Grain And Other Farm Commodities, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The sale of assets held by the taxpayer primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business (such as grain or market livestock) usually produces ordinary income. That rule has encouraged gifts of grain and other farm commodities to spouses, children, grandchildren or other family members who are not considered to be holding the gift property for sale to customers. The outcome is capital asset treatment for gains and avoidance of liability for self-employment tax.

Leasing Personal Property, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

Appearance of the note on Part I of the 1992 edition of Schedule E, Form 1040, that taxpayers are to "report income and expense from the rental of personal property on Schedule C or C-EZ" has raised concerns about the proper reporting of rentals from personal property such as farm machinery rented after retirement to children or others. Several high profile audits in which examining agents have taken a relatively aggressive stance on the issue have added to the concerns.

Resale Of Land Purchased Under Installment Obligation, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

For decades, taxpayers have tried various strategies for selling land, qualifying the transaction for installment reporting of the gain with the land then resold to a third party for cash. Often, the initial transaction involved related parties with the resale typically made to a developer who paid cash and received title to the property. The result of the two stage transaction, if successful, was to have the initial buyer in possession of the full purchase price with the initial buyer making payments to the initial seller who reports the gain over the period of the installment obligation.

Preferred Stock And Special Use Valuation, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

The special use valuation statute clearly contemplates that land held by an entity should be eligible for special use valuation. However, regulations have not been issued providing guidance on the procedure for valuing land held by a corporation, partnership or trust even though the issuance of regulations was mandated in the statute, enacted in 1976. Other than for a Tax Court case holding that a corporation could not utilize special use valuation and at the same time claim a minority discount, until the issuance of a 1992 private letter ruling, estates have been forced to rely on the general guidance …

Earnings After Retirement, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Many farmers, approaching retirement, must make important decisions on — (1) the nature of their relationship to the farm business in retirement, (2) the extent of their personal involvement in business operations, and (3) the timing and manner of disposition of their inventory of crops and livestock during the retirement years.

The Present Interest Test For Purposes Of Special Use Valuation, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Since publication of the initial regulations, the Internal Revenue Service has maintained that real property was eligible for special use valuation only if a qualified heir received a present interest from the decedent. Two branches of the present interest test have emerged.

Health Insurance For Employees, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The rising cost of medical and hospital care and the cost of insurance coverage have led to increased interest in ways to make such costs fully deductible without the benefits being includible in income for the taxpayer. Through 1991 (and the first six months of 1992 if the President signs the bill extending the deduction through June 1992), a 25 percent deduction is allowed for health and accident amounts for self-employed individuals provided — (1) the taxpayer is not eligible to participate in any subsidized health plan maintained by an employer for the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse and (2) …

Reporting Government Farm Payment Programs, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

As a general rule, federal (and state) agricultural program payments received as cash or in the form of services are includible in income. The time at which the amounts are received or made available is ordinarily the time the payments are to be included in income. Amounts are considered to be "made available" in the year in which program requirements have been met, regardless of whether an application had been signed to receive final payment. The fact that a farm operator does not sign the application for final payment until the following year does not defer income to the later …

Joint Tenancy Disclaimers: What Can Be Disclaimed?, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

For years the Internal Revenue Service resisted the disclaimer of joint tenancy interests on the grounds that the disclaimer had to occur within nine months of the creation of the joint tenancy. IRS eventually came to accept the disclaimer of revocable joint tenancies within nine months after death and even more recently indicated that the Service would not resist the disclaimer of joint tenancy interests in other than revocable joint tenancies where there was a predeath right to sever the joint interests The focus on when joint tenancies could be disclaimed obscured the question of what could be disclaimed.

No Interest Deduction For Private Annuities, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

Although a 1929 case, Commissioner v. Moore Corp., had suggested that an interest deduction could be claimed by the obligor under a private annuity arrangement, cases considering the issue since that time have held that no part of the payments made under private annuities involving the acquisition of property is deductible as interest. A 1992 decision by the U.S. Claims Court, Rye v. United States, is in accord with the view that an interest deduction may not be claimed by the obligor and the imputed interest rules likewise do not apply to private annuities.

Renting Farm Machinery At Retirement Or Otherwise, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The 1989 Tax Court case of Carl Stevenson has raised questions as to whether self-employment tax is due on rental income where farm machinery is rented to others (usually children) after retirement or is retained at the time of incorporation and rented to the newly-formed corporate entity.

Setting Up Living Trusts, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The recent enthusiasm for setting up revocable living trusts is supported by two pluses — (1) a way to assure flexibility in management for property in those later years when individuals may not be in a good position to manage their assets and (2) an opportunity for some simplification in estate settlement. However, several factors of a technical or practical nature should be taken into account before the decision is made to establish a revocable living trust.

Paying Wages In Kind: Proposed Repeal Of The Provision, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

Tucked away in a remote corner of the Revenue Act of 1992 lies the long-expected Congressional challenge to the practice of payment of wages in kind to agricultural labor. Barring a major lobbying effort, the provision is likely to be aboard the next major tax bill to pass the Congress.

Paying Wages In Kind, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

In general, wages paid in kind rather than in cash to agricultural labor are not subject to FICA or FUTA taxes. In addition, agricultural labor is exempt from income tax withholding except as the payment constitutes "wages." Wages paid "in any medium other than cash for agricultural labor" are exempt from the term "wages." Recent rulings (and apparent Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of the practice) have focused attention on the issue although neither the practice of paying wages in kind nor the authority for unique tax treatment of such in kind payments is new.

Income Tax Aspects Of Property Transfers, Roger A. Mceowen, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Property can be transferred by sale or gift during life, or by inheritance at death. The income tax consequences of each type of transfer are different.

Repossessing Land, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Before enactment of I.R.C. § 1038 in 1964, repossession of real property following default under an installment sale transaction generally resulted in substantial gain or loss, usually to the extent of the difference between the fair market value of the property at the time of repossession and the income tax basis of the installment obligation. Repossession was essentially treated as a disposition of the obligation.

Revenue Act Of 1992 (Proposed) Summary Of Selected Provisions, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

The legislation would extend on a permanent basis the targeted jobs credit and would restore individuals aged 23 and 24 to the category of economically disadvantaged youth. The provision would be effective for individuals who begin work for an employer after June 30, 1992.

Making Valid Dislaimers, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The disclaimer is easily one of the most useful devices in the estate planner's kit. Using disclaimers artfully, the planner can sculpt a dispositive pattern after death has occurred and all variables are known including asset values, asset ownership patterns, needs of the family (at least as of the time of the decedent's death) and state of the tax system. All of these factors may be shrouded in uncertainty at the time the estate is planned before death and the instruments are drafted. Disclaimers permit a late opportunity to carry out the testator's wishes and to do so in a …

Handling Employee Expenses, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Although farm and ranch employees may incur a range of different kinds of expenses for which reimbursement may be sought, the most common problem situation involves reimbursement for automobile expense. This article discusses the reporting of amounts paid as automobile reimbursement and amounts paid under an "accountable plan."