Phyllis Riley

US drought footprint continues to shrink

by Brad Rippey, USDA Meteorologist During the 4-week period ending on March 1, 2016, contiguous U.S. drought coverage fell to 14.30 percent—a decrease of 1.18 percentage points.  This also represents the smallest areal coverage of U.S. drought in nearly 5½ years, since October 12, 2010.  The U.S. drought minimum of 2010—7.74 percent coverage on July 6—occurred in the wake of the most recently completed El Niño, which lasted from the summer of 2009 to the spring of 2010. Since mid-October 2015, stormy weather in many parts of the country—in part driven by a strong El Niño—has significantly reduced the U.S. …

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1031 Exchange Trends for 2016

From the 1031 Insider Newsletter, IPX Investment Property Exchange Services, Inc. January, 2016 FIRPTA – What the Change to FIRPTA Withholding Means for You Under current federal law, if a foreign person sells US real property, the buyer is obligated to withhold 10% of the gross sales price and remit this to the IRS. Pursuant to the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, however, which became law on December 18, 2015 (the “PATH Act”), the required 10% withholding will increase to 15% for all closings occurring on or after February 16, 2016. There is an exception to the …

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CRP Enrollment Deadline

The most current general enrollment for the Conservation Reserve Program began December 1, 2015. Enrollment will run thru February 26, 2016.  According to the  USDA, “as of September, 2015. 24.2 million acres were enrolled in CRP.  CRP is also protecting 170,000 stream miles with riparian forest and grass buffers, enough to go around the world 7 times.”  Check out the USDA’s Celebrating 30 Years of the Conservation Reserve Program.