Buying a piece of farmland for tax benefits?

OttawaGardener wrote: ↑ No benefit. We bought (in 2001) a rural property on which we allowed a farmer to cash crop (alternate years, corn and soybeans) on a 5 acre parcel. The reduction in property taxes was not sufficient to bother with the paperwork. Nor did we ask the farmer to pay rent, as cash cropping isn't hugely profitable.

Also, one can't just sever land easily. We were permitted 2 severances on the original parcel (38 acres) but farmland across the road was not severable. We just sold the remaining parcel and left that 5 acres as part of the sale since no additional severance was allowed.

I don't see where there'd be any payoff on your scenario, even if a severance was permitted.

TheMaterial wrote: ↑ Really depends on the location.

Person above said they didn't even charge for the 5 acres they let the farmer farm. In some areas they just threw away thousands of dollars.

OttawaGardener wrote: ↑ Nope. The land isn't tile drained, and weather affects income many years.

This past spring, my brother-in-law, who cash crops several hundred acres, almost couldn't get his fields seeded because it was wet into June. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. (Eastern Ontario). Perhaps farmers in southern Ontario are rich