How Farmers Are Using Pre-tax Giving to Turn God’s Provision Into Greater Gospel Impact – by Barnabas Foundation

For many farmers, giving isn’t just something they do — it’s who they are. Across the Midwest, friends of the Fellowship of Christian Farmers International (FCFI) are transforming their fields, herds, and harvests into powerful Kingdom investments through creative, tax-wise giving.

Livestock Gifts: A Blessing from the Herd

In Michigan, one cattle farmer has made generosity part of every trip to market. When he loads his trailer, he sets aside a portion of his herd for ministry — sometimes one steer, sometimes several, even ten — depending on how God has blessed him.
By gifting the livestock before the sale, his contribution is made pre-tax, multiplying the value of what God has placed in his care.

Grain Gifts: Sowing Seeds that Reach the World

Hundreds of miles away, when harvest season arrives and trucks line up at the elevator, another farmer directs an entire load of corn straight to FCFI.
Instead of converting his crop into a check, he transfers ownership of the grain itself. In doing so, he avoids recognizing the income, can still deduct his production expenses, and supports the ministry he loves through the literal fruit of his fields.

From Barns to Bibles

In both cases, these pre-sale gifts of grain or livestock become tools for eternal impact — transformed into five-color wordless books, walking sticks, and even Bibles placed in the hands of those who may never step inside a church.
What begins in a barn or a field becomes part of a harvest of souls around the world.

Simple, Smart, and Eternal

And the best part? It’s easier than most people think.

Through our partnership with the Barnabas Foundation, FCFI helps farmers make these practical, efficient, tax-wise gifts with just a simple phone call. Together, we coordinate the process so the blessing flows seamlessly — from the farm… to the ministry… to the world.

Every farmer who gives becomes a sower in God’s eternal fields:

“Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life,
so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.”
— John 4:36

If you’d like to learn more or explore a gift of grain, livestock, real estate, equipment, or other assets, visit:
👉 www.fcfi.org/giving-stock-real-estate-or-other-assets

Or contact:
Dan Janzen, Executive Director
📧 dan@fcfi.org | ☎️ 616-676-6684