Tim Penny, executive director of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, was on AM Minnesota today. I have known Tim for a long time, as he was in the Minnesota Legislature and served our area in the U.S. Congress. In addition, I found out today his roots go back to Penny Lake, which was just a few miles south of where I grew up. The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation works to make investments in early childhood and economic development. Realizing that agriculture represents 20 percent of the region's economic output and the farmland has a value of $50 billion, it clearly is important to the region's economy. With the average age of farmers at 55 and increasing, the foundation began to think about what happens to all the land and what impact will it have on our regional economy.

This is when the foundation came up with Preserving Our Heritage Farmland Retention Program. The Farmland Retention Program is a tool for landowners, especially for those without children to carry on a legacy. The landowners would receive a tax deduction for the charitable portion of the gift, bypass all capital gains taxes, create a stable revenue source for the remainder of their lives and benefit their favorite charities. Whoever was farming the land would continue to farm the land and keep any wealth generated local. Plus the foundation would continue paying the property taxes on the land. If you would like more information, go to their website: smifoundation.org.

 

 

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