Hi to the dynamic duo and my favorite business podcast. Hoping for that Rockstar endorsement soon…
So, I am really struggling to figure out what to do to protect my farm. I have 29 acres in Oregon and my house is on the property. The long term plan is to continue growing our nut and fruit orchard for an eventual you pick operation, but it will take another 5-7 years for my trees to produce. In the meantime, I am throwing all kinds of spaghetti against the wall to generate cash flow…I have a number of trees in a nursery, Christmas trees in the ground for harvest in 5-7 years, selling chicken eggs, egg laying chickens (raise chicks and then sell once they start laying), meat chickens (raise, process and sell on farm) and sell a variety of vegetables on farm (paste tomatoes, garlic, blackberries). Other than I have no idea what I am doing, it is all going well. I am pretty much the Oregon version of the Dutton Ranch, but with chickens. Eat your heart out.
I am currently operating as a DBA in Oregon. but I know I need to establish an LLC for the farm sales. My question is how do I maintain the veil between the farm and the property? DO I have to do anything or do I have to show some sort of transactional relationship? Is it as simple as setting up some rental agreement between the farm and me? If so, not sure how I capture this on my schedule F (all income currently reported on my personal tax return as I am running as a sole proprietorship).