[extropy-chat] FWD [U-Tapao] Re: Ethanol [Small Farmer's Journaltag]

[spike]

John Ault wrote:

I just hate seeing family farms turned into corporate farms. Their 
sheer size makes it tough on an independent family farm to compete.
John


John, the transition from family farm to corporate farm
is misunderstood.  Because of inheritance tax laws, a farm
can be ruined by a single taxable transition from one 
generation to the next.  But if a corporate officer 
perishes, the farm merely elects the next one.

My parents recently bought a cattle ranch (in order to
extract brutal revenge for my unruly behavior during my 
misspent youth.)  My mother is the CEO, my stepfather the 
president, my wife and I are the vice presidents of 
the corporation that owns the farm, which is us.  The 
stockholder's meeting (or board of directors if you prefer)
takes place around the dinner table whenever we go up 
there to visit and curse the wretched cattle.

All the corporate farms up that way have boards of 
directors that are all related to each other.  None
of the CEOs wear business suits or meet in sky scrapers 
in New York City.

That transition from family farm to corporate farm
is only an artifact of tax law.

spike