Farm data, annexation, property taxes issues addressed by Farm Bureau delegates

INDIANAPOLIS - Delegates to Indiana Farm Bureau’s annual delegate session reaffirmed and strengthened the organization’s long-standing call for property tax reform and also approved new language concerning the emerging issues of big data and unmanned aerial vehicles as they affect agriculture.

More than 260 delegates from across the state met in Indianapolis over the weekend (Aug. 22-24) to consider the policy that will guide Indiana Farm Bureau for the next year. Other topics addressed by the delegates included local government, annexation, animal care and rights of landowners.

For property taxes, the delegates recognized the impending fiscal cliff for farmland owners caused by continued escalation of the base value assessment and the decline in farm income. They approved strategic language that called for freezing the base value at 2014 levels until a suitable solution to the problem of farmland taxes can be found.

“Property taxes and annexation have been issues for a long time but their impact on farmers is growing exponentially,” said IFB President Don Villwock.

Between 2007 and 2013, property taxes paid by agriculture have increased 33 percent – an increase totaling more than $100 million, according to Katrina Hall, IFB’s state government relations director and tax expert.

“Indiana agriculture simply cannot absorb more property taxes,” Hall said.  The base value used for 2014 was $1,760. Estimates show that the base will grow to $2,770 for taxes payable in 2017 unless the General Assembly intervenes.

“We’re really looking into a future, and not too distant a future, in which farmers could potentially be facing a $70 per acre property tax bill. This level of taxes will consume farm profitability when farmers in 2014 and 2015 are looking at prices that will be below break-even levels,” Villwock said.

Delegates added language concerning involuntary annexation. Current law doesn’t allow landowners adequate options in opposing a forced annexation.

“Landowners should not have to petition a court to oppose an involuntary annexation,” the new language states.

New policy was also approved on both big data and unmanned aerial vehicles as they affect agriculture. UAVs (also sometimes called “unmanned aircraft systems,” UASs or drones) are increasingly used in agriculture for crop scouting and gathering other agronomic data, but there are still very few regulations governing their commercial use.

“It’s a new, uncharted area,” Villwock said. “We need to make sure that when we consider how to regulate this new technology – which we’re very supportive of – we get it right. We’re writing the rules on a blank tablet and we want to get it right from the very beginning.”

“Big data” is a term that in agriculture refers to the enormous amount of data generated by every farm – everything from seeding rates to soil type, fertilizer use, yields and much, much more – but also to the ways that farmers can use the data to increase their profits while reducing their use of inputs and resources.

The new language approved by the delegates concerns the security and ownership of that valuable data. “Proprietary data collected from farming and agricultural operations is valuable, should remain the property of the farmer, and warrants protection,” the new language says.

As the legal issues surrounding big data become clarified, Villwock said, “We want to make sure farmers are protected, reassure them that the data is their data, that the companies won’t sell that data to third-party vendors and profit from it without sharing revenues with the farmers. We want to make sure that the data is secure and that government agencies don’t have access to that data.”