Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

v3.19.1
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Interim Financial Information
Our interim financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and pursuant to the requirements for reporting on Form 10-Q in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, certain disclosures accompanying annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP are omitted. In the opinion of our management, all adjustments (consisting solely of normal recurring accruals) necessary for the fair statement of financial statements for the interim period have been included. The interim financial statements and accompanying notes should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 26, 2019 (the “Form 10-K”). The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for other interim periods or for the full fiscal year.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could materially differ from those estimates.
Impairment of Real Estate Assets
We account for the impairment of our tangible and identifiable intangible real estate assets in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 360, “Property, Plant, and Equipment” (“ASC 360”), which requires us to periodically review the carrying value of each property to determine whether indicators of impairment exist. If circumstances support the possibility of impairment, we prepare a projection of the total undiscounted future cash flows of the specific property (without interest charges), including proceeds from disposition, and compare them to the net book value of the property to determine whether the carrying value of the property is recoverable. If the carrying amount is more than the aggregate undiscounted future cash flows, we would recognize an impairment loss to the extent the carrying value exceeds the estimated fair value of the property.
We evaluate our entire portfolio each quarter for any impairment indicators and perform an impairment analysis on those select properties that have an indication of impairment. As of March 31, 2019, and December 31, 2018, we concluded that none of our properties were impaired. There have been no impairments recognized on our real estate assets since our inception.
Crop Sales
From October 17, 2017, through July 31, 2018, Land Advisers operated a 169-acre farm located in Ventura County, California, under a short-term lease (see Note 6, “Related-Party Transactions—TRS Lease Assumption” for further discussion on this lease assignment). Costs incurred by Land Advisers in operating the farm generally consisted of growing costs (including the costs of land preparation, plants, fertilizers and pesticides, and labor costs), harvesting and selling costs (including labor costs for harvesting, packaging and cooling costs, and sales commissions), and certain overhead costs (including management/oversight costs). Revenue from the sale of harvested crops were recognized when the harvested crops had been delivered to the facility and title had transferred and were recorded using the market price on the date of delivery. Accumulated costs were charged to cost of products sold (based on percentage of gross revenue from sales) as the related crops were harvested and sold.
Revenue from the sale of harvested crops and accumulated costs allocated to the crops sold during the three months ended March 31, 2018, are shown in the following table (dollars in thousands, except for footnotes):
 
 
For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2018
Sales revenue(1)
 
$
2,546

Cost of sales(2)(3)(4)
 
(2,359
)
(1) 
Included within Other operating revenues on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.
(2) 
Included within Other operating expenses on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.
(3) 
Excludes rent expense owed to the Company and interest expense owed on a loan from the Company to Land Advisers, both of which expenses were eliminated in consolidation.
(4) 
Excludes the allocation of a fee earned by our Adviser from Land Advisers of approximately $66,000 during the three months ended March 31, 2018, which is included within Management Fee on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (see Note 6, “Related-Party Transactions—TRS Fee Arrangements—TRS Expense Sharing Agreement” for further discussion on this fee).
The lease to Land Advisers expired on July 31, 2018, after which we leased the farm to a new, unrelated third-party tenant under a 10-year lease that commenced on August 1, 2018.
Income Taxes
We have operated and intend to continue to operate in a manner that will allow us to qualify as a REIT under the Sections 856-860 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). As a REIT, we generally are not subject to federal corporate income taxes on amounts that we distribute to our stockholders (except income from any foreclosure property), provided that, on an annual basis, we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (excluding net capital gains) to our stockholders and meet certain other conditions. As such, in general, as long as we qualify as a REIT, no provision for federal income taxes will be necessary, except for taxes on undistributed REIT taxable income and taxes on the income generated by a TRS (such as Land Advisers), if any. From October 17, 2017, through July 31, 2018, Land Advisers, which is subject to federal and state income taxes, assumed the operations on one of our farms in California (see Note 6, “Related-Party Transactions—TRS Lease Assumption”). There was no taxable income or loss from Land Advisers for the tax year ended December 31, 2018, nor was there any for the three months ended March 31, 2019.
Should we have any taxable income or loss in the future, we will account for any income taxes in accordance with the provisions of ASC 740, “Income Taxes,” using the asset and liability method. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based on differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective income tax bases (including for operating loss, capital loss, and tax credit carryforwards) and are calculated using the enacted tax rates and laws expected to be in effect when such amounts are realized or settled. In addition, we will establish valuation allowances for tax benefits when we believe it is more-likely-than-not (defined as a likelihood of more than 50%) that such assets will not be realized.
Reclassifications
On the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019, operating rental revenue has been reclassified to be displayed in accordance with ASU 2016-02 (as defined below), which was adopted on January 1, 2019, and acquisition-related expenses have been reclassified to be included within general and administrative expenses. These reclassifications had no impact on previously-reported net income (loss), equity, or net change in cash and cash equivalents.
Recently-Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)” (“ASU 2014-09”), which was amended in each of March, April, May, and December of 2016. ASU 2014-09, as amended, supersedes or replaces nearly all GAAP revenue recognition guidance and establishes a new, control-based revenue recognition model, changes the basis for deciding when revenue is recognized over time or at a point in time and will expand disclosures about revenue. We adopted ASU 2014-09 on January 1, 2018, using the modified retrospective method, under which the cumulative effect of initially applying the guidance was recognized at the date of initial application. Our adoption of ASU 2014-09 did not have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition, as the primary impact of this update is related to common area maintenance and other material tenant reimbursements, whereas the majority of our revenue is from rental income pursuant to net-lease agreements, with very little being attributed to tenant recoveries. The impact of ASU 2014-09 did not take effect until the new leasing standard (ASU 2016-02, as defined below) became effective on January 1, 2019.
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842): An Amendment of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification” (“ASU 2016-02”), which supersedes the previous leasing standard, ASC 840, “Leases.” The new standard requires lessees to apply a dual approach, classifying leases as either finance or operating leases based on the principle of whether or not the lease is effectively a financed purchase by the lessee, which classification determines whether lease expense is recognized based on an effective interest method or on a straight-line basis, respectively, over the term of the lease. A lessee is also required to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for all leases with a term of greater than 12 months, regardless of the classification. Leases with a term of 12 months or less will be accounted for similarly to operating leases under the previous leasing standard. The new standard requires lessors to account for leases using an approach that is substantially equivalent to that under the previous standard for sales-type leases, direct financing leases, and operating leases. We adopted ASU 2016-02 on January 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective method, under which we recorded the cumulative effect of applying the new guidance as of the adoption date. We also elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance (which included that: (i) an entity need not reassess whether any expired or existing contracts are or contain leases, (ii) an entity need not reassess the lease classification for any expired or existing leases, and (iii) an entity need not reassess initial direct costs for any existing leases), the land easement practical expedient to carry forward existing accounting treatment on existing land easements, and the lease and non-lease component combined practical expedient. In addition, we elected the short-term lease exception, which allows us to account for leases with a term of 12 months or less similar to existing operating leases. We currently have two operating ground lease arrangements with terms greater than one year for which we are the lessee. See Note 7, “Commitments and Contingencies—Ground Lease Obligations,” for further discussion on the impact of our adoption of ASU 2016-02 and the assumptions used in determine the related right-of-use asset and lease liability.