In addition there are a number of ways built in to to help 'family farmers' (and BTW if you and your spouse are sitting on a farm worth in excess of $10 mil, good for you for being so well off. You're in the storied 1%).
There is an exemption that gives them a reduction of up to a million to bridge the gap between the value of their property at the "current use value" versus the "highest and best use value." Heirs also get 15 years to pay that 'family farm' estate tax off.
But most of the statistical evidence says that the vast majority of farms bequeathed to relatives don’t pay any estate taxes. Even fewer are in a position where they can’t pay the liability.
According to a Congressional Research Service report in 2013, less than 1 percent of farm operator estates is projected to pay any estate tax.
And that’s because there are exemptions for farmers and small businesses written into the estate tax code that allow most farmers — with a bit of estate planning — to avoid the estate tax altogether. For example, if the heirs agree to farm the land for another 10 years, they can get up to a $1 million exemption by valuing land at its farm use value rather than development value. An additional $500,000 exemption is possible if one agrees to a perpetual conservation easement restricting the use of the land. It is also possible to reduce the value of an estate by giving portions of the estate to heirs as a gift over a number of years. For a full description of exemptions available to farmers, see this Congressional Research Service report, starting on page 2.
