Section 180: The Underrated Farmland Tax Play You’re Missing

Are you a landowner buying or selling ag ground, or a land agent who wants a real, defensible way to put money back in your client’s pocket?

In this episode of The National Land Podcast, host Mac Christian talks with Alec Bean and Karly Pavlinac of The Soil Tax Guys about a powerful, underused tool: IRS Section 180. In plain English, you can deduct the excess soil fertility you acquire with a farm or ranch, treating those nutrients like an asset, if you follow the rules.

Whether you row-crop, graze cattle, or market farmland, you’ll learn how to lock in a one-time, use-it-or-lose-it deduction that can materially change deal math.

What You’ll Learn:

• How Section 180 works (fertility valued via soil tests and USDA pricing = tax deduction)

• The critical timing: test after closing and before any fertilizer is applied

• Typical values (~$500/ac averages) and real cases topping $1k–$6.5k/ac

• Three ways CPAs take it: all at once, 60/30/10 over 3 years, or over useful life

• Where it applies: food and forage production (crops, grazing)—not timber/hunting-only tracts

• State nuances: why land-grant university guidelines drive which nutrients count

• Deal strategy: pre-sale testing as a marketing tool, auction use, and portfolio roll-forward

• Risk & readiness: audit-defensible reports (GPS’d sampling, documentation) and common CPA misconceptions

• Edge cases: recent purchases with no fertilizer yet, and why inheritance usually doesn’t qualify

This episode is a must-listen for:

• Farm/ranch owners buying or selling ground

• Land brokers/auctioneers who want a sharper pitch (and faster closings)

• Operators expanding portfolios who reinvest tax savings into the next deal

• Heirs/trustees evaluating sale vs. hold strategies on working land

Don’t leave five or six figures on the table. If ag is the use, Section 180 should be on your checklist every single time.