Hop Farm Bookkeeping: Why Your $12,000-Per-Acre Trellis Depreciates Differently From the Bines
Hop yard buildout runs $12,000-$15,000 per acre, and the trellis depreciates as 7-year farm equipment while IRS Section 263A decides the plants.
#schedule-f
Schedule F
Schedule F profit or loss from farming for farmers and ranchers
Sheep Farm Bookkeeping: Breeding Flock vs. Market Lambs, Wool Checks, and the Enterprise Budget That Tells You If Ewes Pay
Cull ewes held over 12 months qualify for Section 1231 gain on Form 4797 — not Schedule F — skipping self-employment tax.
Custom Farming Bookkeeping: How to Set Per-Acre Rates That Actually Cover Your Machinery Costs
Iowa State pegs 2026 combining near $49.88 per acre. Price custom farming from ownership cost per engine hour, and split IRS Schedule F from Schedule C.
Alpaca Fiber Farm Bookkeeping: Grade the Fleece, Depreciate the Herd, and Price Yarn Like a Business
Purchased alpaca breeding stock depreciates over 5 years (Section 179 eligible); raised crias have zero basis. Grade fleece by micron and file on Schedule F.
Goat Dairy and Microdairy Bookkeeping: Pricing Milk, Cheese, and Soap From One Herd
A goat microdairy earns on a lactation curve but pays on a calendar. This guide shows how to keep separate enterprise books for fluid milk, cheese, and soap — using extension budgets of 1,650–1,800 lb of milk per doe per year, retail goat milk near $18 a gallon, the 10-pounds-of-milk-per-pound-of-cheese rule, and FDA's line between soap and a cosmetic claim.
Urban Farm and Market Garden Bookkeeping: Know Your Profit Per Crop
How small growers keep books that answer "which crop made money?" — Schedule F expense categories, why cash accounting fits a market garden, the March 1 / January 15 farmer estimated-tax rule, the farm optional method for Social Security credits, and per-enterprise cost allocation by bed-feet and labor hours.
Cut-Flower Farm Bookkeeping: Enterprise Budgets, Per-Stem Costs, and Pricing Bouquets for Actual Profit
How to build an enterprise budget for a cut-flower farm, calculate true per-stem cost (total planting cost ÷ marketable stems, counting owner labor and 20–40% shrink), compare farmers-market, subscription, wholesale, and u-pick channels by net return per hour, and price mixed bouquets from a costed recipe — plus Schedule F vs. Schedule C rules and seasonal cash-flow practices.
Crop-Share vs. Cash-Rent Farm Leases: Who Bears the Risk, Who Pays the Tax, and How to Keep the Books
Cash rent lands on Schedule E with no self-employment tax, but a crop-share landlord who pays half the inputs and advises the tenant can trip the material-participation test and owe 15.3 percent on Schedule F. How each lease splits yield, price, and input-cost risk, with a worked 160-acre example and the settlement records both landlord and tenant need.
Truffle Orchard Bookkeeping: Capitalizing a 5-to-10-Year Preproductive Period for a Crop the USDA Doesn't Even Classify Yet
A practical guide to truffle orchard accounting — why a 5- to 10-year preproductive period triggers Section 263A capitalization, when the small-farmer election lets you expense instead, how to track costs by block, and when a block becomes productive and starts 10-year depreciation.
USDA's 2026 Farm Payment Rule: Entity-Level AGI Testing Ends for LLC and S-Corp Farms
USDA's final rule effective June 2, 2026 ends entity-level AGI testing for LLCs, S corporations, partnerships, and joint ventures — AGI is now tested per owner against the $900,000 limit, payment limits stack by actively engaged member, and paid labor counts toward eligibility. Entity certifications are due to FSA by September 15, 2026.
Olive Oil Mill Bookkeeping: Custom Crush Fees, Yield-Driven COGS, and the Harvest Cash Cliff
How to keep books for an olive oil mill that earns most of its revenue in a six-to-ten-week harvest window — separating custom-crush milling fees from own-label inventory accounting, tracking extraction yields that swing from 50 to 200 pounds of olives per gallon, valuing bulk oil in tank storage, and handling Schedule F, cash-method, and UNICAP tax questions.
Farmers Market Vendor Bookkeeping: Reconciling Cash, SNAP/EBT Tokens, and Scale Tickets
How farmers market vendors keep cash, card, SNAP/EBT tokens, and nutrition-incentive matches reconciled — log every payment rail the same day, book market-reimbursed tokens as receivables rather than same-day revenue, retain NTEP-certified scale tickets as legal records, and split raw versus processed sales between Schedule F and Schedule C.