Greetings,

My first post here, although I've done plenty of lurking over the years. Our house is on 4.5 acres of which about 3.5 is cleared. I'd like to start a small organic farm and we would be one of few farmstands in a suburban town on a busy road. I have a few questions before I reach out for legal help. I'd like to just get a general picture in my head of how things would work and mull things over before I break out the checkbook for legal help.

We have grown crops for the food pantry before to the tune of about 400lbs of produce a season but nothing like for-profit farming. My wife and I have full time jobs and a kid so we were hoping to set the foundations for eventually being able to hire a farm manager. Please let me know what you think of the following gameplean:

I was thinking this year I would create an LLC and be able to deduct improvements done this summer. My guess would be that I should create a $1-a-year lease agreement between ourselves, as owners of the property, and the LLC to help protect our home from lawsuits against the business. The lease would be for the portion of the land used for the farm (about 4 out of the 4.5 acres, the two barns, and sharing the driveway). I'd like to be able to hire someone for the 2023 growing season who is knowledgeable about farming and would get a significant cut of profits. I would be in charge of the overall vision for the farm, marketing, and the books. My wife and I would help fill in gaps in labor but I would want the Farm Manager we hire to be motivated by the success of the farm, ballpark 50% of annual net profits (or their salary, whichever is greater). Before the employee shortage, I was thinking a minimum $15 an hour plus benefits but offering year round employment (filling time with things like working on the barns during the off-season). They would manage the day to day and the farmstand (if we choose to go that route) or deliveries. I also don't want to have to be legally responsible for training them on the safe use of farm equipment, I want to hire someone with knowledge on farming who can actually teach us some things. I know that may be tricky from a legal standpoint if we're the owners. Any advice on accomplishing this or the other things we are trying to accomplish would be greatly appreciated.