Busy December for Ag in Congress

Taylor Hillman General

Congress busy in December
December will be another busy month for agriculture on Capitol Hill as groups like the American Farm Bureau push to win year-end tax and other legislation.

Busy December for Congress

Producers still don’t know what tax breaks they’ll have to buy equipment and make other investments this year — a repeat of last December, except that key breaks like section 179 single-year expensing have already expired. What was a half-million write-off for equipment and structures remains at just $25,000.

American Farm Bureau’s Dale Moore says a fix to the legislation is needed for farmers, implement dealers and agricultural suppliers.

December could also see a big budget fight over reopening the farm bill related to or separate from reversing a $3 billion cut in crop insurance made in an earlier budget deal.

Efforts are also underway to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial “Waters of the U.S.” rule as part of the budget bill to keep the government funded.

Farm Bureau is also lobbying for senate action on a genetically modified organism labeling bill that’s similar to legislation that passed the House which calls for a uniform national labeling system to head off a patchwork of state labeling rules. Congress has just 11 planned days of session in December.