Have you seen information about depreciating the value of excess fertilizer on purchased farmland? It sounds intriguing. If the phosphorous in a soil test is higher than recommended, then in the next year or two the P reading is lower, you can depreciate the cash value of the P “lost” from the farm.

That got me wondering … is there anything else that could be depreciated from the purchased farmland? How about the soil itself?

If I can reduce my taxes by claiming depreciation of the nutrients, can I do the same for value of soil lost to erosion from bare, tilled ground? 

For no-tillers using cover crops this is a moot point. If you buy a farm that has been consistently tilled and convert it to continuous no-till, you are adding soil value, not depreciating it. You are out of luck for this tax scheme.

However, look at the tax advantages for a neighbor who wants to buy YOUR acreage that you have built up for 20 or 30 years. You have improved the soil by increasing organic matter and transforming subsoil into topsoil. 

Consider the potential tax windfall. Plowing your rich soil leaves it bare and vulnerable to erosion. A 50-mph windstorm for a few days could easily blow away several tons per acre (think Dust Bowl of the 1930s). A couple of intense thunderstorms can wash many more tons off the farm. 

A good tax attorney or accountant could use some creative math and come up with…