I didn’t say that people are currently being forced to register, but with the direction we’re headed in, would you be at all surprised to see it happen in the near future?
Farms are being required to register if they participate in any federal contract. We obtained our high tunnel through a USDA federal contract, and as part of that agreement we had to obtain water rights and register our 1/2 acre farm. Our 5-year contract ended last month, but I'm sure they still have the information on us. Our thought at the time was that having a registered farm would help us to prove that land was being commercially farmed if the local tax man wanted to tax us for earning income from it.
I didn’t say that people are currently being forced to register, but with the direction we’re headed in, would you be at all surprised to see it happen in the near future?
Farms are being required to register if they participate in any federal contract. We obtained our high tunnel through a USDA federal contract, and as part of that agreement we had to obtain water rights and register our 1/2 acre farm. Our 5-year contract ended last month, but I'm sure they still have the information on us. Our thought at the time was that having a registered farm would help us to prove that land was being commercially farmed if the local tax man wanted to tax us for earning income from it.