A decision to take advantage of a county Far m Bureau cost-share assistance/farm safety program saved the life of a Livingston County farmer. ................6
The impoRTAnce oF the livestock industry to Illinois was delineated at the recent Illinois Commodity Conference. Even the manure is a valuable commodity. ....7
A unique univeRsiTy of Illinois laboratory acts as the “Consumer Reports” of ag ventilation products for the United States and many foreign countries. ..........8
Monday, December 3, 2012
Two sections Volume 40, No. 48
Policymakers stalled at brink of cliff
Farm bill proposals wide-ranging; hope remains
BY MARTIN ROSS FarmWeek
Periodicals: Time Valued
Washington lobbyists and analysts are straining to separate remedies from rumors amid the “noise and chatter” at the brink of the “fiscal cliff,” American Farm Bureau deputy policy director Dale Moore told FarmWeek Friday. As the threat of severe January “budget sequestration” cuts and tax hikes looms, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) reported the White House and the House had made “no substantive progress” in reaching a tax/spending compromise. Bush-era tax breaks and a raft of more recent business tax incentives are set to expire Dec. 31. Illinois Farm Bureau is pushing lawmakers to maintain the current $5 million individual estate tax exemption and 35 percent estate tax rate, along with existing capital gains tax rates and Section 179 small business tax capital expensing provisions (see accompanying details). If Congress takes no action, the individual estate tax exemption will drop to $1 million ($2 million per cou-
ple), potentially exposing Illinois farm families with relatively modest land holdings to a 55 percent estate tax hit. Congressional uncertainty extends as well to the farm bill debate, which may or may not wind up being tied into any fiscal cliff solution, Moore said. Last week, Senate Ag Committee Chairman Deb Stabenow (D-Mich.) maintained the farm bill is “very much part of the discussion,” and offered up ag proposals from the Senate and House ag committees, which include significant cuts in farm programs and food stamps, as “a way to save money.” Leaders on both sides of the Hill continue to mull options that range from including a new five-year farm bill (and possibly ag disaster aid) with a fiscal package or merely extending 2008 farm bill provisions for a year without offering “anything concrete in either direction,” Moore said. Stabenow met Thursday
with Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and other leaders of the House and Senate ag committees. Senate Ag Ranking Member Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) stated, “There’s still a concerted effort to get a five-year farm bill,” and Vilsack urged lawmakers to focus on a five-year bill rather than an extension. “Because of the savings in the House and Senate versions, somewhere between $23 billion and $35 billion, leadership on both sides of the Hill could decide to plug that into whatever their solution is to the fiscal cliff and avoid sequestration,” Moore said. “Here’s language that’s already done. There’s certainly some reconciling to be done between both versions of the bill, but they can’t be any further apart than some of the other issues they’re working on.” Even if extension proved the stopgap solution, Moore is uncertain whether it would include further extension of direct payments and other general commodity programs or merely reauthorization of
already-expired dairy programs. Further, inclusion of disaster assistance as part of an extension raises questions about farm bill funding and the ag budget baseline available to House and Senate ag
committees attempting to reformulate a new farm bill next session. Extension thus may be a more complicated option than considering “the two bills that are already on the table,” Moore suggested.
IFB: Talk about taxes with D.C. lawmakers Illinois farmers worried about the impact of Congress’ current tax impasse can make their voices heard on the Hill. Illinois Farm Bureau urges members to contact their congressmen and senators regarding expiring tax provisions of importance to agriculture via the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 877-I-ACT-4-AG (877-422-8424). IFB supports preserving the current $5 million personal estate tax exemption, indexed to inflation and with a top tax rate of 35 percent. Average Illinois farmland values have tripled since 2000, and producers may be unable to pass land and assets to the next generation if the exemption falls back to $1 million at a 55 percent rate or even $3.5 million. Further, IFB is pushing to maintain a 15 percent capital gains tax rate, boost the threshold for Section 179 small business expensing to $500,000, and continue bonus depreciation. Use of Section 179 in equipment purchases provides an incentive for rural businesses, while bonus depreciation of equipment aids in farm cash flow. IFB also supports long-term extension of biodiesel, cellulosic biofuels, biomass power, and wind energy credits.
Lawmakers, groups intensify emergency river action Federal agencies are working to keep goods moving on the Mississippi River as lawmakers, farmers, and commercial river interests seek support for rapidly removing potential roadblocks to winter traffic. Last week, the American Farm Bureau Federation and 20 other national groups urged President Obama to issue an emergency declaration that would expedite removal of Mississippi River rock formations that may seriously impede Southern Illinois navigation by mid-December (see story page 3). In response to an Illinois Farm Bureau request, Illinois congressmen led by Peoria Republican U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock also pushed for White House action. Midwest senators reportedly were primed to follow suit. In a letter to the assistant secretary of the Army, Gov. Pat Quinn offered state support to “fast-track” dredging and rock removal in the Thebes/Grand Tower area.
The Illinois Senate has adopted a resolution seeking emergency action. Pike County Farm Bureau President David Gay sees ample justification for executive emergency intervention. “Since this situation is really caused by the ongoing drought, there’s no endpoint to the crisis — at least, not one we can predict,” Gay told FarmWeek. “If the river’s closed for lock repairs or frozen for a month or so, we can see when that’s going to be over. This situation is not going to turn around anytime soon; not on its own.” Last week, St. Louis Corps District Commander Col. Christopher Hall told industry representatives and state and federal officials “we’re expediting every process we can to get us where we need to be when we need to be.” The Corps has continued dredging operations “around the clock” since July to ensure a safe 9-foot-deep, 300-foot-wide navigation channel from St. Louis to Cairo,
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and “we are responding to the conditions we see ahead of us,” Hall said. The Corps has investigated rock removal for six years: Funding for the work is in place and environmental analysis necessary to begin blasting has been completed. However, under routine bidding procedures, the Corps doesn’t anticipate letting a contract until late January or February. Under endangered species laws, work must be complete by March 31 to accommodate spawning by the pallid sturgeon. Agency representatives saw limited alternatives for ensuring navigable depths. Dennis Wilmsmeyer, executive director of St. Louis’ America’s Central Port, suggested tapping Lake Michigan waters to boost channel depth, but the lake falls under joint U.S.-Canadian jurisdiction and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that restricts releases. Corps representatives noted short-term See River, page 2
Illinois Farm Bureau®on the web: www.ilfb.org