13JAN13

Greetings from Baker Heritage Farms;

It is a New Year and Baker Heritage Farms is hoping for a good farming year.

Debbie and Donald have been "off the farm" for the past week and a half, and Debbie will be away from the farm until probably mid-February, so David has been left to manage the operation. Due to weather there has not been a lot to do.

The seeder and sprayer were delivered and David assembled both. Once the weather clears we will put the Fish Powder down on plots 1D and re-till plots 1D, 1B and 2C. We will also be ordering Cabbage, Onion, Carrot, and Lettuce seed for direct seeding and Tomato and Pepper seed for seed beds. Donald and David set up the first seed bed table in the barn this past weekend and all that needs to be added are the lights and seed trays.

While most people have tax filing deadlines to deal with the first of the year, many farmers have additional paperwork that needs to be completed. If you are a backyard farmer, you will not have to deal with paperwork, except for preparing seed, supply, and equipment orders for the planting season. Those who have small acreage farms may have additional paperwork.

Baker Heritage Farms maintains an Agricultural Exemption Permit with the Oklahoma Tax Commission. In Oklahoma, you must have at least 20 acres and be involved in farming operations in order to qualify for the permit. Periodically we receive a U.S. Census of Agriculture form that must be completed. It is embarrassing this year as we only had 1/2 acre in production, and the crops were not even market crops; however, we still need to complete the form. As the form is quite extensive, Donald is still working on it (it also requires financial information that is not yet compiled for 2012).

In addition, Baker Heritage Farms is registered with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and forms need to be filed annually. Again, Donald is currently working on this form and will need to go to the local NRCS office to complete and file it.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service is an excellent resource for farming of any size. You can review their services on the internet at: www.nrcs.usda.gov.

While the farm has been neglected the past several weeks, it has not been forgotten, and work goes on.

Until next week,

Blessings from Baker Heritage Farms

"It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all seeds on earth ..." Mark 4:31