Farmers worried by possible new capital gains, estate tax liability
Very few farm families pay estate taxes but almost all large-scale farmers are worried that changes in the tax code will increase their exposure to capital gains or estate taxes, said a Purdue University survey released on Tuesday. The poll was conducted before the White House said nearly all inherited farms would be exempt from the proposed tax law changes.
Report calls for better protections of farmworkers
The government should restrict the use of dangerous pesticides on the farm and establish standards that protect farmworkers from heat-related illnesses, said a report by the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) at Vermont Law School on Tuesday.
Think tank establishes food and nutrition task force
With Congress due to update U.S. child nutrition programs and farm subsidies in the near term, the Bipartisan Policy Center announced on Tuesday a task force that could influence the legislation. The Food and Nutrition Security Task Force is expected to issue a series of policy recommendations during its one-year life.
Today’s Quick Hits
Vilsack at White House: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday will appear at the White House to “talk about the vital child nutrition proposals in the American Families Plan,” said press secretary Jen Psaki. The plan includes a permanent expansion of summer meals and the Community Eligibility Provision that allows schools in high-income neighborhoods to serve meals for free to all students. (C-SPAN)
Tough organic transition on a giant farm: A plan to convert a mammoth South Dakota farm to organic crops is doing more environmental harm than good, according to some of its neighbors, because the farm operators did not do enough to prevent wind erosion of fragile soils in a semi-arid environment. (NPR)
Slower line speeds for pork: The USDA notified pork processing plants they cannot operate slaughter lines faster than 1,106 hogs per hour following a court ruling that USDA needed to assess the impact on worker safety of allowing high-speed lines. (Wall Street Journal)
Split on water quality: Iowa farmers are more likely than the general public to view water quality in the state as good or very good and less likely to blame farm runoff as the biggest source of excessive nutrients in lakes. (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development)
Pits stay closed: The CME Group, which closed many of its futures-trading pits in 2015 due to the rise of computerized trading, said it will not re-open pits that it closed in March 2020 because of the pandemic, except for the Eurodollar options pit. (CME Group)
Listening to young farmers: USDA will hold a listening session online on Thursday for beginning farmers and ranchers to describe how the pandemic affected their operations and to get feedback on assistance. (Farm Service Agency)
