About Us
National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee History
During the late 1930s and 1940s, many states established farm record projects. World War II led to increases in federal income tax. The need to understand and take appropriate action to governmental laws and regulations prompted farm families to demand educational programs in income tax management, social security, insurance, governmental farm programs, etc. Many states developed programs, especially in the income tax area.
In 1947, the North Central Farm Management Extension Committee (NCFMEC) was formed by representatives of the 13 north central states and they were later joined by Kentucky, Oklahoma, New York and Pennsylvania.
The impact of government laws and regulations upon farmers was the same regardless of where they lived. Therefore, one bulletin or form could be used by many states and these types of activities could be handled very efficiently by NCFMEC subcommittees.
The Farmer's Income Tax Guide, which has been published annually by the Internal Revenue Service since 1955, was initiated by the NCFMEC subcommittee on income tax and tax management. Initially, a regional publication entitled Income Tax for Farmers was developed and published each year from 1948 through 1954. Since that time, the National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee has cooperated with the Internal Revenue Service in preparing the Farmer's Tax Guide. The National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee is the only group of this type which meets annually with the IRS.
Contact Us
Email: info@ruraltax.org
In your email, please provide us with detailed information about your inquiry and which state/region you are contacting us from so that we can connect you with the correct contact.
Contributors
Carol Bishop
Extension Educator
Northeast Clark County
University of Nevada
(702) 397-2604 x1
cbishop@unr.edu
Carol Bishop is an Associate Professor and Extension Educator in Northeast Clark County, Nevada and holds a M.S. in Resource and Applied Economics and a B.S. in Conservation Biology. Her areas of interest and expertise are agricultural economics and fostering local agriculture and other enterprises as a means for enhancing economic and community development. For the last thirteen years through extension programs, she has taught farm financial management and has instructed farmers, ranchers, and agricultural professionals on start-up agricultural entrepreneurship, methods of determining potential profit, risk management, record keeping and budgeting throughout the state of Nevada and the Western Region including tribal reservations
Kevin S. Burkett
Extension Associate, Agribusiness
Assistant Director, Ag Tax School
Sandhill Research and Education Center
Cooperative Extension, Clemson University
900 Clemson Rd
Columbia, SC 29229
(540) 239-4602
kburke5@clemson.edu
Kevin is a CPA and works as an Extension Associate for Clemson University. In this role Kevin provides education on farm management, budgeting, recordkeeping, and taxes. He works alongside several colleagues to run the Clemson Tax School which is Clemson’s continuing education program for tax professionals in South Carolina.
Tamara L. Cushing
Extension Assistant Professor of Forest BusinessSchool of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences
University of Florida
PO Box 110410
Gainesville, FL 32611
tcushing@ufl.edu
Dr. Tamara L. Cushing is an Assistant Professor of Forest Business and an Extension Forestry Specialist at the University of Florida. Her area of expertise is in taxation of timber and forest lands. This includes research on property, income and estate taxes and their impact on family forest owners. Dr. Cushing’s extension program focuses on helping forest landowners and their advisors with the tax laws as well as thinking through succession planning. Prior to joining UF in 2021, Dr. Cushing was on the faculty at the University of Kentucky, Clemson University and Oregon State University. She also previously was employed as a forest economist for a forestry consulting firm in Georgia conducting cash flow analyses for institutional forest landowners. Dr. Cushing teaches forest economics and management at UF.
Dr. Cushing has a Ph.D. in forest finance from UGA, a Master of Taxation and Master of Science in Forest Economics from Mississippi State University and a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resources from the University of Florida. She is a Fellow in the Society of American Foresters and served as the President in 2020.
Mark Dikeman
Executive Director, Kanas Farm Management Association
Department of Agricultural Economics
Kansas State University
308 Waters Hall; 1603 Old Claflin Place
Manhattan, KS 66506
dikemanm@ksu.edu
agmanager.info/kfma
Mark Dikeman is Executive Director of the Kansas Farm Management Association, an extension program through the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University. The KFMA program consults directly with agricultural producers throughout Kansas to create accurate on-farm financial records and provides members with a detailed accrual farm financial analysis. KFMA Economists also provide advice to members in business structure, estate planning, transition planning, and income tax management. Data from the KFMA program is also used by researchers and educators in the Agricultural Economics department. Mark has a B.S. degree in Animal Sciences and Industry and an M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics, both from Kansas State University. Mark and his wife, Shelli, have 4 children and 3 grandchildren.
J.C. Hobbs
Assistant Extension Specialist
Agriculture Economics Dept
Oklahoma State University
316 E. Oxford
Enid, OK 73701-1335
(580) 237-7677
jc.hobbs@okstate.edu
J C. Hobbs has been with Oklahoma State University’s Cooperative Extension Service since 1985. He holds the position of Assistant Extension Specialist in the OSU Agricultural Economics Department. His areas of emphasis are farm income tax management, estate planning, farm business management, and farm transition planning. He also coordinates the OSU Farm and Business Tax Schools and teaches the agricultural tax issues.
Rob Holcomb
Extension Educator, Agricultural Business Management
University of Minnesota Extension
Extension Regional Office, Marshall
200 S. O'Connell Street, Suite 500
Marshall, MN 56258-3813
holcombr@umn.edu
Office (507) 337-2807
Rob Holcomb, EA, has been an Extension Educator with the University of Minnesota since 2004. Rob works on the development and delivery of educational programs dealing with agricultural risk management with emphasis on farm analysis, business planning, labor management, and taxation. Rob has been an instructor for the Minnesota Income Tax Short Course since 2010 and in 2011 began serving as the tax school faculty director. Rob and his family reside in Marshall, Minnesota.
Adam Kantrovich
Clemson University Cooperative Extension
Extension Specialist, Agribusiness
Asst. Director of Clemson Extension
Agribusiness Team
Sandhill Research and Education Center
900 Clemson Road
Columbia, SC 29229
(803) 834-0019
akantro@clemson.edu
https://www.clemson.edu/extension/agribusiness/index.html
https://www.clemson.edu/extension/taxschool/
Dr. Kantrovich is an Associate Professor and Extension Economist with Clemson University and is located at the Sandhill Research and Education Center in Columbia, SC. Major responsibilities are programming activities in the areas of farm financials, ACA compliance for agribusiness, agribusiness succession and transition planning and agricultural and timber taxation management. Dr. Kantrovich conducts programs around the state and nationally to various agricultural groups and organizations.
Prior to arriving at Clemson University Dr. Kantrovich spent 10 years with Michigan State University Extension working in the field with farms including a number of specialty crop farms.
Jerry Pierce
KFBM Program Coordinator
615 North Mulberry Street, Suite 205
Elizabethtown, KY 42701
Cell (859) 537-6655
Office (270) 737-4799
FAX (270) 763-1225
jerry.pierce@uky.edu
Jerry Pierce received his B.A. and M.S. degrees from Auburn University. He is the Program Coordinator for the Kentucky Farm Business Management, a cooperative program between participating farmers and the University. Participants receive education and advice on farm business decisions, income tax management, and financial trends based on accurate records. The University uses aggregate data from the farms to develop benchmark profiles of Kentucky agriculture. The data provides factual economic information about Kentucky farms for use in research, teaching, and extension. Pierce also teaches the Agricultural Chapter for the Kentucky Income Tax School and serves on the National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee.
Bob Rhea
Extension Specialist - Taxation
University of Illinois Tax School
1301 West Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
Office (217) 333-5511
bob.rhea@fbfm.org
Bob Rhea, EA has been associated with the Tax School since 2005 as an instructor and reviewer for the University of Illinois Federal Tax Workbook. Since 1984, he has assisted farmers with accounting, tax, and consulting services in west-central Illinois through the University of Illinois FBFM program, and was named CEO in June 2020. Bob completed 18 years as the national executive director for his professional organization, NAFBAS. He serves as trustee for John Wood Community College, was selected as the inaugural Distinguished Alumnus, and is a board member for United Community Bank. Bob received his bachelor's degree from Western Illinois University and Master's degree from the University of Illinois. Bob resides in Camp Point; family includes his wife, Debbie, 3 children Tracy, Casey, Ashley, their spouses and 7 grandsons.
Trent Teegerstrom
The University of Arizona
Dept of Ag and Resource Economics
1110 E James E. Roger Way
Tucson, AZ 85721
(520) 621-6245
FAX (520) 621-6250
tteegers@ag.arizona.edu
Trent Teegerstrom’s Website
Trent is an associate Specialist with the Department of Ag and Resource Economics at the University of Arizona. Trent has been involved in production agriculture all his life. He has worked with a variety of agricultural enterprises including dry-land farming in the mid-west; irrigated agriculture in the southwest; and livestock production in the northeast, mountain west, and southwest. He has also worked with fruit and vegetable producers in the northeast and southwest. He joined the University of Arizona’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in 1997 after spending the previous two years as a Farm Business Management Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension working in farm finance and risk management areas. His main area of concentration is production economics, Tribal agriculture, risk management, agricultural taxes and agricultural labor issues.
Jeff Tranel
Agricultural and Business Management Economist
Colorado State University
830 N. Main St, Suite 100
Pueblo, CO 81003
(719) 251-0990
jtranel@colostate.edu
Jeff Tranel is an Agricultural and Business Management Economist with Colorado State University Extension and Faculty Affiliate in CSU’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. He delivers educational programs, conducts applied research, authors resources, and facilitates farm and ranch family interactions in the areas of business succession and estate planning, financial management, risk management, income tax management, and human resource management. Jeff has addressed agricultural audiences and worked with farm and ranch families in 25 U.S. states and 8 non-U.S. countries. Jeff consulted with the Byelorussian Agricultural Academy with its efforts to develop farm management curriculum for residential instruction and outreach. Jeff was raised on a commercial and purebred cattle ranch in south central Wyoming and northwestern Colorado.
Guido van der Hoeven
Extension Specialist/Senior Lecturer Emeritus
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
North Carolina State University
Guido van der Hoeven spent much of his career at the intersection of farm business management and taxation. During his career, Guido served the citizens of Kansas, North Carolina and currently is employed part-time as an Agricultural Tax Specialist at the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation (CALT) at Iowa State University.
Additionally, Guido was a founding Director of the Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation, Inc. (LGUTEF) and presently serves as President. The foundation publishes tax education materials for CPAs, Enrolled Agents, Attorneys, and other income tax professionals in the form of the National Income Tax Workbook and Agricultural Tax Issues texts which are used by 27 universities in their professional tax education programming.
Barry Ward
Leader, Production Business Management
Director, OSU Income Tax Schools
The Ohio State University
College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Ohio State University Extension
(614) 688-3959
ward.8@osu.edu
As Leader, Production Business Management he works collaboratively for the development and delivery of Extension Programs that provide managers of farm/agricultural businesses with tools, information, and analysis to manage their firms. Areas of research and study include land economics, farmland value and cash rental rates, farmland lease issues, crop economics and budgets, machinery economics, and tax issues impacting Ohio agriculture.
Undergraduate instruction: Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics (AEDE) 3104, Farm Business Management.
As Director of OSU Income Tax Schools he works collaboratively planning, organizing and co-teaching the Ohio State University Income Tax Schools for Tax Professionals as well as providing tax education on critical issues for Ohio’s agricultural sector.
Ward is a part-time farmer as a small part of Ward Farms in Urbana, Ohio.
Ruby Ward
Utah State University
Applied Economics Department
4835 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-4835
(435) 797-2323
(435) 797-2701 (fax)
ruby.ward@usu.edu
Dr. Ruby Ward was raised on a farm and ranch in Southeastern Idaho. After graduating from Ricks College, she received a BS in Agricultural Economics and Accounting from Utah State University. From Texas A&M University she received an MBA and a PhD in Agricultural Economics. Dr. Ward joined the faculty at Utah State University in 1998 and was tenured in 2005. Ward is currently an associate professor and extension specialist at Utah State University in the Department of Applied Economics. Her current assignment involves all three areas emphasized at a land grant University—teaching, research and extension. She teaches agricultural finance and community planning. Ward is the committee chair for the Diversified Agricultural Conference. Ward is the project leader for the Rural Tax Education website and Co-chair of the National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee. Ward works primarily in the area of rural development focusing on regional economics and agriculture entrepreneurship.
Anne Whyte
Utah State University
Applied Economics Department
4815 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-4815
anne.whyte@usu.edu
Anne Whyte received undergraduate degrees in economics and finance from Utah State University, and then completed a Masters of Economics at the same institution. She completed a Masters of Business Administration at Virginia College. Her work with this website is primarily related to technical and administrative aspects.
George Patrick
Professor and Extension Economist
Dr. George Patrick's areas of research include the evaluation of risk management strategies, farmers' risk attitudes and responses to risk, producers' marketing practices and effects of changes in income tax law. Professor Patrick coordinates the Purdue Income Tax School program for tax professionals. The two-day program enrolls about 1,100 tax professionals annually and is conducted at 11 locations throughout Indiana. He also conducts programs for agricultural producers on income tax management and risk management. Dr. Patrick teaches AGEC 456, Federal Income Tax Law, to about 100 undergraduate students in the spring semester.
Dr. Patrick's Extension program was recognized as the Distinguished Extension Program- Individual by the American Association of Agricultural Economics (AAEA) in 2004. He received the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Specialist Career Award in 2002. During the 1999 to 2004 period he served as Director, President-Elect, President and Past-President of the AAEA Extension Section. Dr. Patrick received the 1997 Tax Award from the Quality for Indiana Taxpayers Foundation, Inc. Dr. Patrick was President of the Board of Directors of the Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation, Inc. from 2001 to 2008 and currently serves as a director.
Leon Geyer
Professor
Department of Agriculture and Applied Economics
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Leon Geyer joined the faculty of Virginia Tech in 1981. He conducts research in law and economics, working in areas such as the environment, commercial law, business organization, taxation, and tort problems of the farm and commercial sectors. Current research projects address the divorce impact on farm assets and the Limited Liability Company Acts.
Before coming to Virginia Tech, Professor Geyer worked as an economist and attorney for USDA and the Committee on Agriculture, U.S. House of Representatives. He served as the Altheimer Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas in 1990; Visiting Professor, Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada, 1994; Visiting Fellow, University of Melbourne, Faculty of Law, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1995. He is advisor to the Undergraduate Honor System; President of the Faculty Senate; and President elect, American Agricultural Law Association.
Professor Geyer currently teaches undergraduate courses in environmental and agricultural law, and real estate appraisal and law. Departmental students have selected him as the Outstanding Teacher three times and he has received the College Certificate of Teaching Excellence. He was selected to receive the 1997 Alumni Academic Advising Award. He was presented with the 1999 American Agricultural Law Association Award for Excellence for Professional Scholarship. Professor Geyer speaks often to extension audiences and leads continuing legal education seminars including a popular tax practitioner workshop. He has served the college and university on all major undergraduate academic committees and in multiple leadership positions.
Philip E. Harris
Professor
Director of Tax Insight, Philip E. Harris is an attorney and professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension. He has taught tax courses and written tax course materials for 31 years and excels in making complex tax issues understandable for practitioners.
Currently Professor Harris authors the National Income Tax Workbook, the text for our Annual Tax Course. 28,000 tax practitioners throughout the United States also use the text. Additionally, he writes an annual edition of Agricultural Tax Issues and lectures around the country on agricultural tax issues. Professor Harris also consults with the IRS, WDOR, businesses and tax practitioners.
Dennis Kauppila
Regional Specialist: Farm Business Management
University of Vermont Extension
Dennis Kauppila, Associate Professor, is a regional farm business management specialist with University of Vermont Extension, located off-campus. Dennis has a B. S. and M. S. in Ag Economics from UVM. He started with UVM Extension in 1983 and began helping with the UVM Tax Schools in 1989. He has been a member of the National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee that advises IRS on the Farmer’s Tax Guide for about 5 years.
Keith D. Kightlinger
Extension Economist-Farm Financial Management
Rural Development Center
Keith D. Kightlinger is an Extension Specialist in The University of Georgia's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. He is responsible for programming in Taxation and Farm Business and Financial Management. Since 1993 he has served as Coordinator and Director of UGA's Extension Farm and Small Business Income Tax Schools for Tax Practitioners. Keith's subject matter work in taxation includes income, estate and gift, sales and property taxes, with primary focus on income and estate & gift tax issues. His work in farm business and financial management covers farm record keeping, farm business organization and capital structure, and farm labor issues.
Mr. Kightlinger has been a member of the National Farm Income Tax Extension Committee since 1996. The committee works with the Internal Revenue Service, providing an annual review and content suggestions for IRS Publication 225, The Farmers' Tax Guide. He has also been a member of the Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation, which annually produces the "National Income Tax Workbook," which is used in continuing professional education programs for income tax practitioners in 28 states, including Georgia. He participates each year in subject matter selection and content review for the Workbook, and has written materials included in the workbook in 2002, 2003, and 2009.
Keith has been an Extension Specialist in Agricultural Economics for more than 30 years. From January 1979 through February 1989 he served as an Area Farm Business Analysis Specialist for the University of Kentucky. Since March 1989 he has been employed by The University of Georgia, working from UGA's Tifton Campus.
Warren Lee
Professor Emeritus
The Ohio State University
Warren Lee is a professor emeritus in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics at the Ohio State University.
Prior to retirement in 2003, he served on the Ohio State University faculty for 33 years, specializing in agricultural finance. He continues to serve as director of the Ohio Income Tax Schools program, a position he has held since 1999.
Roger A. McEowen
2321 N Loop Drive
Iowa State University
Roger A. McEowen is the Leonard Dolezal Professor in Agricultural Law at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where he is also the Director of the ISU Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation. Before joining Iowa State in 2004, he was an associate professor of agricultural law and extension specialist in agricultural law and policy at Kansas State. From 1991-1993, Professor McEowen was in the full-time practice of law with Kelley, Scritsmier and Byrne in North Platte, Nebraska.
Professor McEowen has also been a visiting professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville, Arkansas, teaching in both the J.D. and L.L.M. programs. He has also taught at the Drake University School of Law Summer Institute in Agricultural Law.
At Iowa State, Professor McEowen develops and conducts an educational program in agricultural law and policy and is responsible for developing the curriculum and instructional program for the Iowa Farm Income Tax Schools.
Professor McEowen received a B.S. with distinction from Purdue University in Management in 1986, an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University in 1990, and a J.D. from the Drake University School of Law in 1991.
Glenn Rogers
UVM Extension Income Tax Consultant
Professor Emeritus - UVM Extension
Glenn Rogers, Professor Emeritus, was a County Extension Agent with UNH Cooperative Extension beginning in 1975 before joining UVM Extension in 1982. He served in numerous agricultural roles for UVM Extension including as a Regional Farm Business Management Specialist for the last 20 years with UVM Extension. Glenn has a B. S. and M. S. in Animal Science from UVM. He also has post graduate courses in Ag Economics from UVM. Glenn began with the UVM Tax Schools in 1991. Glenn was on the Land Grant Tax Education Foundation from 2007 - 2010. He served as National Association of County Agricultural Agents President in 2005 and as National Treasurer of the Joint Council of Extension Professionals in 2006. Glenn served as Co-Coordinator for the UVM Income Tax Schools from 2002 - 2008 and as Coordinator and an instructor from 2008 - present. He also was Assistant Tax Specialist with Yankee Farm Credit from 2011-12.