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The labor needs of Ohio farms continue to evolve, and many producers are exploring new options to meet workforce demands. One of those options is the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program, which allows farms to hire seasonal labor from outside the United States.

The H-2A program is commonly used by labor-intensive farms such as fruit, vegetable, and nursery operations. However, it can also be an effective option for traditional row crop and livestock operations. This webinar will explain how the H-2A program works and discuss how it may be a good fit for row crop and livestock producers. The webinar will be hosted by OSU Extension Farm Office and the OSU Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics.

The online webinar will be held on Friday, September 12 at 10:00 am.  Free registration is available here: https://osu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__s5bd8oKQ3K0vLiTYuqSug

What You’ll Learn

This educational session will provide an overview of the current state of agricultural labor and explain the key aspects of the H-2A program, including:

• What the H-2A program is and how it operates
• Practical steps for farms interested in applying
• The application process
• Why H-2A may be useful for farms that have not traditionally used guest workers

Featured Speakers

The webinar will feature a panel of experts, including:

• Margaret Jodlowski, Assistant Professor, Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University
• Jeff Lewis, Attorney, OSU Agricultural and Resource Law Program
• Robert Moore, Attorney, OSU Agricultural and Resource Law Program
• Representative from the U.S. Department of Labor

Together, they will share insights into how H-2A functions and answer questions about its potential role in Ohio’s farm workforce.

For more information or questions, contact Robert Moore (moore.301@osu.edu).

Barry Ward, Director, Income Tax Schools at The Ohio State University

Jeff Lewis J.D., Legal Associate, Agricultural and Resource Law Program, Income Tax Schools

 

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act (H.R. 1), was passed, signed and became law on July 4th. This Act impacts taxes and agricultural policy among a long list of other important issues. In this post, we list important tax provisions that were included in this legislation. Many of the provisions were law as a part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and were extended and in some cases made permanent by this new Act. There were also a few new provisions that were included in this new legislation. This article will summarize the provisions that should prove to be most important to farmers and others with ag interests.

Qualified Business Income Deduction

The 20 percent Qualified Business Income Deduction (QBID) for sole proprietors and pass-through businesses under I.R.C. § 199A is made permanent by this Act. This includes the I.R.C. § 199A(g) deduction for agricultural cooperatives and their patrons.

This new legislation includes a new minimum $400 deduction for taxpayers with at least $1,000 in “active” qualified business income. Both amounts will be adjusted annually for inflation.

Estate and Gift Tax Exemption

This Act permanently increases the estate and gift tax exemption (basic exclusion or Unified Credit), beginning in 2026, to $15 million per person, indexed for inflation.

Individual Income Tax Rates

The OBBB Act permanently extends the tax rates and brackets enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Standard Deduction

Beginning in 2025, this Act provides an increase in the Standard Deduction to $15,750 for singles, $23,625 for heads of household, and $31,500 for marrieds filing joint. This increased standard deduction is also made permanent.

Personal Exemption

The personal exemption is permanently repealed by this Act.

Temporary Deduction for Seniors

The OBBB Act provides seniors (those 65 years of age and older) with an additional $6,000 deduction for tax years 2025-2028. Married seniors filing joint returns are entitled to the deduction, as long as they meet the income requirements.

The deduction is available for seniors who take the standard deduction or for those who itemize deductions but does begin to phase out for taxpayers with incomes of $75,000 (single) or $150,000 (MFJ).

Child Tax Credit and Other Dependent Credit

The Act permanently creates a child tax credit of $2,200 (adjusted for inflation) (beginning in 2025) for qualifying children under 17. (Income phase-out thresholds - $200,000 for singles and $400,000 for MFJ).  The legislation also makes permanent the $1,400 refundable portion of the credit, indexed for inflation.

The Act also makes permanent the $500 nonrefundable credit for other dependents who do not qualify for the child tax credit, including those over the age of 16.

Additional First Year (Bonus) Depreciation Changes

The OBBB Act permanently increases bonus depreciation to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. For property placed in service during the first taxable year ending after January 19, 2025, the taxpayer can elect to use 40 percent bonus depreciation. These provisions also apply to trees and vines planted or grafted after January 19, 2025.

Section 179 Expense Enhancements

The Act permanently increases the maximum Section 179 deduction to $2,500,000 and increases the phaseout threshold amount to $4,000,000 for property placed in services in taxable years beginning after 2024. These amounts will be indexed for inflation after 2025.

Exception from Limit on Business Meal Deduction

The 50 percent deduction for meals for the convenience of employers is scheduled to end at the end of 2025.

1099-MISC and 1099-NEC Requirements

The new law increases the payment threshold to $2,000 per payee to file 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC information returns, beginning with payments made in the 2026 tax year. The current threshold of $600 per payee remains in effect for the 2025 tax year. Reminder: Copies of the Form 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC must also be provided to payees.

1099-K Requirements

The OBBB Act also settles the confusion surrounding 1099-K reporting requirements. The Act provides that third-party settlement organizations are not required to issue a payee a 1099-K unless the payee receives over $20,000 in total payments and conducts more than 200 transactions in a year.

Gain from the Sale or Exchange of Farmland Property to Qualified Farmers

The OBBB Act creates a new election for those selling farmland property to a qualified farmer (an individual who is actively engaged in farming). This election allows the seller to choose to pay their taxes on the gain in four equal installments. The election is available to individuals and other entities that have either farmed the property or leased it to a qualified farmer for 10 years prior to the sale.

The seller can only make the election if the land is subject to a covenant or other legally enforceable restriction which prohibits the use of the property other than as a farm for farming purposes for 10 years after the date of the sale or exchange. A copy of the covenant must be filed with the first tax return.

This provision is effective for sales or exchanges occurring in tax years beginning after July 4, 2025.

Clean Fuel Production Credit

The Act extends the clean fuel production credit under I.R.C. § 45Z for fuel sold through December 31, 2029 but the Act restricts the credit to fuel produced from domestic feedstocks. It also reduces the credit for sustainable aviation fuel from $1.75 per gallon to $1.00 per gallon after 2025.

Carbon Oxide Capture and Sequestration Credit

The current I.R.C. § 45Q carbon oxide sequestration credit remains intact as a part of this Act. It does add a provision to allow all uses (not just sequestration) to receive the same $85/ton rate. The credit is not scheduled to expire until 2033.

Clean Vehicle Credits

The Act ends clean vehicle tax credits for all vehicles purchased after September 30, 2025. The Act also ends the alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit for property acquired after June 30, 2026.

This article highlights tax provisions that should be of primary interest to those involved in farming and agriculture. This article does not summarize all tax provisions found in the OBBB Act. Information on all provisions found in this Act can be found at Congress.Gov by viewing a summary of the Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1

 

Reference: One Big Beautiful Bill Act Implements Significant Tax Package, Iowa State University, Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation, Kristine A. Tidgren, July 9, 2025

OSU Extension Announces Two-Day Tax Schools for Tax Practitioners & 
Agricultural & Natural Resources Income Tax Issues Webinar 
Barry Ward & Jeff Lewis, Income Tax Schools at The Ohio State University

For over 60 years, Ohio State University has been providing continuing education for tax preparers. Ohio State University offers income tax education designed for tax preparers with some experience preparing and filing federal tax returns for individuals and small businesses. Our schools also provide tax education for beginning professionals and for farmers and farmland owners.

This year, our schools will focus heavily on tax provisions included in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) legislation passed and signed in July. Our schools will also have presenters from the Ohio Department of Taxation focusing on income tax and property tax provisions impacted by the Ohio Biennial Budget.

Instruction focuses on tax law changes and on the problems faced in preparing individual and business (including farms) tax returns. Highly qualified instructors will explain and interpret tax regulations and recent changes in tax laws. These schools and webinars offer continuing education credits for attorneys, CPAs, EAs, CFPs, and other tax return preparers. More information can be found online: https://farmoffice.osu.edu/tax

Our two-day schools (and 4-part webinar) are designed for individuals who have some experience preparing and filing federal and state tax returns. The two-day courses are considered to be intermediate level. Highly qualified instructors will explain and interpret tax regulations and recent changes. Our two-day schools also have instructors from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Ohio Department of Taxation (ODT). 

Highlights include a detailed look at new and updated tax provisions in the OBBB and the Ohio Biennial Budget.  We have three chapters in this year’s National Income Tax Workbook (NITW) that haven’t had recently that may be of interest – Religious Organization Tax Issues, Installment Sales and Tax Benefits of Home Ownership.

What sets our schools apart? Our dedicated instructors who work in the tax industry! We don’t just get you through the class, we get you through the tax filing season.

We also offer a two-hour Ethics Webinar and a six-hour Agricultural and Natural Resources Income Tax Webinar for additional continuing education credits. All of our courses are taught by some of the industry's top experts!

Registration for our 2-day schools and four-part webinar includes a hard copy of the 600+ page National Income Tax Workbook prepared by the Land Grant University Tax Education Foundation (“LGUTEF”), access to past workbooks, the opportunity to order the 2026 Checkpoint Federal Tax Handbook at a substantial discount, and 50% off our Ethics/PSR Webinar.

Registration for 2025 is open and can be found by visiting: go.osu.edu/tax2025

If you cannot register online, email taxschools@osu.edu to set up an alternative. 

Dates and Locations for 2025 Income Tax Schools
Oct. 29-30 Ole Zim’s Wagon Shed, Gibsonburg (Fremont)
Nov. 3-4 Presidential Banquet Center, Kettering (Dayton)
Nov. 6-7 Old Barn Restaurant & Grill, Lima
Nov. 12-13 Ashland University, John C. Meyers Convocation Center, Ashland
Nov. 17-18 Muskingum County Conference and Welcome Center, Zanesville
Nov. 20-21 Hartville Kitchen, Hartville
Dec. 2-3 Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, Columbus
Dec. 8, 9, 11,12 Four-Part Virtual Webinar Series, Zoom

Special Offerings:
Nov. 24-25 - Intro to Tax Course (Columbus)
Dec. 5 - Ethics Webinar, Zoom
Dec. 15 - Ag Tax Issues Webinar, Zoom

Two-Day Tax Schools Topics Include:

• New Legislation – Focused on tax provisions in OBBB
• Ohio Tax Update
• Individual Tax Issues
• Retirement Tax Issues
• Business Tax Issues
• Religious Organization Tax Issues
• Installment Sales
• Tax Benefits of Home Ownership.
• Business Entity Tax Issues
• IRS Issues
• Trusts and Estates
• Agricultural and Natural Resource Tax Issues
• Rulings and Cases

A sample chapter from a past workbook can be found at: 
https://taxworkbook.com/about-the-tax-workbook/

In addition to the tax schools, the program offers a separate, two-hour ethics webinar that will broadcast Monday, Dec. 5^th. The webinar is $30 for school attendees and $60 for non-attendees and is approved by the IRS and the Ohio Accountancy Board for continuing education credit.

A webinar on Ag Tax Issues will be held Thursday, Dec. 15th from 8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. If you are a tax practitioner that represents farmers or rural landowners or are a farmer or farmland owner that prepares your own taxes, this webinar is for you. It will focus on key topics and new legislation related specifically to these income tax returns.

Registration, which includes the Ag Tax Issues workbook, is $180 if registered at least two weeks prior to the webinar. After November 29, registration is $230.

Intro to Tax Preparation Course
Our Introduction to Tax Preparation for the Beginning Tax Professional  Course is offered in Columbus on Nov. 24-25, at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. This introductory course seeks to not only introduce beginning tax professionals to tax verbiage, concepts, and law, but also inject real world experience to help beginning tax professionals avoid mistakes a new preparer generally makes. We begin instruction by covering the basics and by the end of Day 2, attendees will have completed a sample return. For more information on this course see this page: https://farmoffice.osu.edu/tax/introduction-tax-preparation-course

For more information, you can contact Barry Ward or Jeff Lewis at taxschools@osu.edu

They can also be reached by phone. Barry Ward - 614-688-3959, Jeff Lewis - 614-247-1720

 

Welcome to our third installment in our continuing series on provisions affecting agriculture in the recently passed State Operating Budget, or House Bill 96. Our previous blog posts in this series focused on changes to ag permits and licensing and to pesticide application laws, which you can find here and here. This week, our focus will be on the effects of H.B. 96 on apiaries throughout the state of Ohio.

Adjustments and additions to definitions

Under current Ohio law, an “apiary” is defined as “any place where one or more colonies or nuclei of bees are kept,” and “queen rearing apiaries” are defined as “any apiary in which queen bees are reared for sale or gift.” H.B. 96 changes the definition of “queen rearing apiaries” to “any apiary in which queens are raised or purchased for sale, trade, or gift; or otherwise distributed or used to create, for sale, trade or gift, nucs, packages or colonies.”  Thus, the budget bill expands the definition of “queen rearing apiaries” to not only include apiaries where queens are raised for distribution, but also apiaries where queens are purchased for distribution in order to create bee colonies.

H.B. 96 also adds a definition to the law governing apiaries.  In the budget bill, “nuc” is defined as a small colony of bees in a hive box to which all of the following applies:

1. The hive box contains three to five frames.
2. The hive box contains a laying queen bee and the queen’s progeny in egg, larval, pupa, and adult stages.
3. The small colony has honey and a viable population sufficient enough to develop into a full-sized economy.

These changes to definitions under the apiary law appear to have been made to increase the number of apiaries ODA has the authority to regulate, as you will see in the next section.  The ultimate goal of these changes seems to be for ODA to have more oversight over the health and safety of apiaries in Ohio.

Compliance, registrations, certification

Ohio apiarists should also be aware that H.B. 96 makes changes to compliance requirements under the apiary law. New language in H.B. 96 requires any person engaged in the rearing of queen bees to have a written compliance agreement with ODA. Under the agreement, the person must agree to comply with the requirements stipulated by ODA.

Furthermore, new language states that each person intending to sell, trade, gift, or otherwise distribute queen bees, packaged bees, nucs, or colonies will now be required to request that ODA certify all of a person’s queen rearing apiaries. A certification fee of fifty dollars or another amount specified by ODA in rulemaking is also created. According to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, the introduction of this $50 fee will bring in approximately $41,000 annually to benefit the Plant Pest Program Fund.

 H.B. 96 authorizes ODA to require all queen rearing apiaries to be inspected as specified in rules at least annually, whereas the previous language required inspections once each year with no authority to alter inspection frequency. This change would seemingly give ODA the ability to inspect apiaries more frequently, and as a result, they could keep a better eye on any problems with individual apiaries. Previously, if such an inspection found that there was a serious bee disease or that Africanized honey bees were present, bee owners were subject to certain rules. The new language also includes the finding of bee “pests” to trigger these rules, which appears to give ODA another tool to keep bee populations throughout the state safe.  Once disease or pest problem is resolved, ODA can issue an official certificate attesting to this.  Producers must include a copy of this certificate with each queen, nuc, or colony they distribute. Such a certificate will expire on May 31^st of the following year and may be renewed annually. H.B. 96 also outlaws the distribution of bees, honeycombs, or used beekeeping equipment that contains a serious bee disease or pest.

Ohio law requires any person owning or possessing bees to register with ODA, and H.B. 96 makes some tweaks to this registration process.  Under the new language, a person must apply for registration on or before the first day of June each year, or thereafter within thirty days after owning or possessing the bees or moving bees into Ohio from another state.  Previously, an owner had ten days to apply for registration, so the new language gives people a bit more time.  New language also requires owners to register each of their apiaries, regardless of whether the apiary is located at their place of residence or elsewhere. H.B. 96 also eliminates the five dollar registration fee.

H.B. 96 also gives the director of ODA the power to suspend any apiary registration, certificate, permit, or compliance agreement for cause.

When will these changes become effective?

The budget bill becomes effective on September 30, 2025. The Ohio State Beekeepers Association (OSBA) has been working with ODA throughout the month of July to get more clarity about what the language changes mean for beekeepers, and how regulations will be carried out under the new law. OSBA’s page dedicated to information about H.B. 96 is available here. ODA’s website on apiaries is located here.

As always, H.B. 96 is available in its entirety here. Stay tuned to the Ag Law Blog for more updates on the State Budget and its effect on agriculture.