Agricultural News
OKFB's Rodd Moesel Talks Current Issues Facing Producers
Fri, 09 Jul 2021 15:56:31 CDT
With the seemingly never-ending supply of current issues being faced at the federal and state level, it is important for producers to be aware of government happenings.
Associate Farm Director, KC Sheperd, caught up with Oklahoma Farm Bureau President, Rodd Moesel, and he said, the most prominent issues OKFB is facing is keeping gains made on the estate tax in recent years and to fight the new Stepped Up Basis proposed by the Biden Administration.
He said these two changes would be exceptionally punishing to family farms and small businesses, so it is important to try to prevent the change from occurring.
The Stepped Up Basis would change the amount exempted from estate tax when moved from one generation to another, Moesel said. The value would be changed to current rather than being able to continue working off the values payed back in time, he added.
Moesel said this would have a huge impact on long-term family farms and businesses.
"The irony is so many of the people who talk about these policies say they are friends of family farmers and ranchers, and yet these kind of policies are the very thing that will cause a huge loss of family farms and force more farms into a corporate-type structure," Moesel said. "We hope we can tell the story and convince more folks of the impact."
Moesel mentioned this can also be seen as a form of double taxation if current estate tax exemptions are not protected.
An equally hot topic right now is medical marijuana and its impact on producers.
A task force OKFB is currently a part of is devoting efforts to education with the intent of reviewing farmers' concerns and addressing issues they face.
Moesel said much of the blame is put on the rapid rise of property values in rural parts of Oklahoma, relative to marijuana business.
"There are so many dollars chasing hard assets that it's causing appreciation in all kinds of land and housing," Moesel said. "So, the task force is taking a hard look at what those impacts are and trying to figure out policy changes we need to propose or be involved in to deal with producer's concerns as we go forward in Oklahoma."
He added that OKFB is not only trying to be diligent about these types of issues in our state but supporting friends in the agriculture industry across the nation in whatever way possible as well.
It all comes down to this: we all have to be better at telling the story of agriculture and its importance to our friends and neighbors, Moesel said.
Sheperd and Moesel talked about several other topics including the OKFB Women's Leadership Committee Fall Conference, the OKFB YF&R Third Annual Shotgun Shoot, and the OKFB August Area Meetings.
To hear KC's complete conversation with Rodd, click or tap below.
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