Financial guidance specific to FARMERS AND RANCHERS

A lot of our clients are farmers and ranchers here in West Texas who wisely come to us to address many issues that can have serious financial consequences if not handled well. For instance, there are so many valuable uses of their land besides farming and ranching. Many farmers and ranchers derive considerable income from selling their mineral rights, surface rights, air rights and water rights to oil and gas companies, solar energy firms and wind turbine installers.

Another source of revenue on these big ranches is hunting. People come from all over the country looking to hunt whitetail, antelope or turkey and will lease land or buy hunting rights from our clients.

There are also estate and tax issues when transferring the farm or ranch to heirs. We coordinate relationships with our clients’ CPAs and attorneys to assist with transitioning wealth and property rights in an equitable and tax-efficient manner.

A CASE STUDY

Charlie, a long-time Texas rancher and the patriarch of his family, was getting up there in years and decided it was finally time to sell his 10,000-acre ranch to his daughter and grandson. Years ago, he leased the mineral rights to a local oil enterprise and also sold the air rights to make way for a row of wind turbines along the northern boundary of his property.

Back in the day, when he purchased the ranch, he only paid $50 an acre. Today, of course, it’s worth exponentially more. With the cost basis (the original value of an asset for tax purposes) being so low, Charlie was facing the prospect of having to sell 40% of the land just to cover the huge tax hit. This called for a strategy for mitigating the tax liability, so we worked with Charlie’s attorney and the trust professionals at Raymond James to go over the available options for the client to consider.

This case study is for illustrative purposes only. Individual cases will vary. Any information is not a complete summary or statement of all available data necessary for making an investment decision and does not constitute a recommendation. Prior to making any investment decision, you should consult with your financial advisor about your individual situation.