Indiana Farmland Owners Brace for Higher Property Taxes in 2014

Feb 08, 2013

Agriculture economist says that base rate for assessed land value to increase

Indiana farmland owners should expect to pay higher property taxes in 2014 says Purdue Extension agricultural economist Larry DeBoer.

The expected increase in property taxes is due to the increase in the base rate for assessing land value. The base rate is the starting point for calculating taxes for farmland. It has increased from $1,630 per acre in 2012 to $1,760 for 2013; taxes assessed on this year’s base rate will be paid in 2014.

The trend of increased base rate has doubled in the past seven years; in 2007 it was only $880 per acre. In Indiana, farmland is assessed on the use value compared to the market value – it is based on the income that the land can generate, not the actual selling price.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.