R&D Tax Credits  /  Agriculture
R&D Tax Credits · Industries

R&D tax credits for
agriculture & agtech.

New growing techniques, precision-ag technology, equipment, genetics, sustainability, modern agriculture runs on innovation, and much of it qualifies. It’s one of the most overlooked industries of all.

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The Opportunity

Farming has become a technical enterprise.

From precision-ag sensors and data to new growing methods, irrigation, soil health, and equipment, today’s agriculture involves constant experimentation under real uncertainty. If you’re improving how things are grown, raised, or processed, there is very often a credit in it.

What Qualifies

The work that counts.

Growing & production

  • Developing or testing new crop varieties, seeds, or growing techniques
  • Improving irrigation, soil health, and fertilization methods
  • Pest and disease management innovations
  • Controlled-environment growing, greenhouse, vertical, or hydroponic
  • Livestock genetics, feed, and health improvements

Technology & equipment

  • Precision agriculture, sensors, drones, data, and automation
  • Developing or modifying equipment and machinery
  • Post-harvest handling, storage, and processing improvements
  • Sustainability and resource-efficiency innovations
  • Field trials, testing, and iteration
Example Projects

What it looks like in practice.

Precision ag

Developing a sensor-and-data approach to optimize inputs across variable fields.

Growing method

Trialing a new irrigation or soil program to improve yield under real uncertainty.

Equipment

Modifying machinery to handle a crop or process it wasn’t originally built for.

Worth Knowing

Two ag incentives, don’t confuse them.

R&D credits reward developing and improving how you farm. Separately, when you buy farmland, the residual soil fertility left by prior owners can be deducted as it’s used up, a different incentive entirely. Many agricultural operations qualify for both.

We handle each on its own terms. See Residual Nutrient Deductions for the soil-fertility side.
The Test, Applied

How the four-part test lands here.

01

Permitted purpose

A new or improved growing method, input, genetic, or piece of equipment.

02

Technological in nature

Grounded in agronomy, biology, engineering, and data science.

03

Elimination of uncertainty

It was uncertain whether a method or technology would improve the outcome.

04

Process of experimentation

Resolved through field trials, testing, and measured iteration.

Common Questions

Questions we hear.

I’m a farmer, not a tech company. Do I qualify?

The credit rewards technical experimentation, testing new methods, equipment, or inputs under uncertainty, which is ordinary in modern agriculture.

How is this different from the residual nutrient deduction?

R&D credits are for developing and improving how you farm; the residual-nutrient deduction is for the fertility in farmland you acquire. Different incentives, often both available.

Do field trials that fail count?

Yes, testing that doesn’t pan out is part of the process of experimentation the credit rewards.

See what your work qualifies for.

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This page is general information, not tax or legal advice. Whether specific activities and expenses qualify depends on the taxpayer’s facts and applicable law, and is determined through the appropriate R&D study. Novaric does not guarantee eligibility, credit amounts, or any IRS outcome.