Farm Business

Today's mailbox had some nice goodies for me.

First, a check for copies of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan intended for upcoming conventions. Domo arigato gozaimasu!

Second, I received an envelope full of forms for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and from the Internal Revenue Service. Normally, one would see "IRS" and let out a "gasp." But this was for farm-related reporting, so it was not bad. Getting this taken care of now will save me from having headaches later.

It is nice to see how helpful that government agencies in the mid-west are willing to help one complete their forms. Each had notations and Post-it notes attached with directions. Either they are very helpful or just want to make sure I completed them right the first time so they don't have to re-do everything all over again. Any help I can get is welcome and appreciated, no matter the motive!

The Dept. of Agriculture has a number of programs for farmers and crops. The forms are for the current year's crop and for programs in which I will receive the benefits from.

To accurately complete one form of five questions, I had to call my tenant farmer in Nebraska for the information. With his help, I was able to complete the form in about a couple of minutes. He says that next year I should be an "old pro" at this stuff. (We'll see.) With that out of the way, we chit-chatted a bit. He says Nebraska is having "a normal June" and this year's corn crop looks great. He did say that rain has been down a bit in the region (I read that other states had too much rain for corn and soybeans), so some well-water will have to be used to make up the difference. Other than that, things look good on the farm this year. If luck and Mother Nature cooperates, we should have a good crop at harvest time in October.

For some reason, my mom had her crop payments divided. She'd receive one payment in October and the other in January of the following year for tax purposes. I disagreed with the reasoning when she did this, but it was her business to do as she saw fit. However, since the Democrats decided to tack on more taxes in 2011 on profits, I decided to have the whole amount of this year's crop payments sent this year (I was going to do this anyway).

Once I receive my share of of the crop proceeds, I will make my travel arrangements for an overdue and much-needed vacation in Japan.

Like me, my tenant farmer has daughters who are more adept at cell phone photo-sending than he is. So, as soon as he can get them seated long enough, he'll send some photos over of the corn crop and I'll post them when I get them. Looks like he'll be working the farm for years as he just hit "the golden age" of fifty. I have six years on him, and he said I look younger than that.

We were talking about dating at our age (he's happily married and intends to stay that way) with the cost of everything these days. I replied that I am at the age where I'm "too young for Medicare and too old for women to care." He laughed and said that I should "watch out for those cougars" (older women who seek out younger men). I told him that's not my problem, as I have been hit-on several times in Malibu by college-age girls. Maybe middle-aged men is the "in thing" with them these days. Either that, or they are just looking for a guy with money.

It is my intention to go to Nebraska next year with Amber to meet everybody and to get ourselves up-to-snuff on farming operations. This way, if something happens to me, Amber will be able to "hit the ground running."

So much for today.