Give tax incentives to new farmers

No tax incentives yet

Updated: Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 | By Catharine Richert

The agriculture industry is always trying to attract new, young talent, but it's difficult because farming is a very expensive endeavor. To lower the cost, President Barack Obama promised to provide tax incentives to make it easier for new farmers to afford their first farm.
 
More than a year later -- and an extensive Google and Nexis search later -- it seems there's been no progress on the issue.
 
In part, this may have something to do with the fact that Congress just finished up work on the massive 2008 Farm Bill, which sets the agenda for agricultural policy for five years. During the debate, there was a lot of discussion about new loans and tax credits for beginning farmers. Ultimately, farm-state lawmakers only focused on grants and loans for new growers.

Small farm advocates are still hoping Obama will pull through on the tax credit.

"Loans are important, but access to the money does not necessarily get you access to the land," Ferd Hoefner, director for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, told the National Journal in September 2009. "Policy needs to work comprehensively and the tax incentive side is part of that equation."

On the second part of his promise -- to provide incentives to conduct sustainable agriculture and preserve land -- we've found some, albeit mixed, progress. Obama talked about "unprecedented levels of emphasis" on conservation of private lands. While the Interior and Agriculture Departments both got more funding for some land conservation programs, other initiatives were shortchanged in the Obama budget.
 
For example, he underfunded the Conservation Reserve Program, which encourages farmers to preserve more land, in his budget. Ultimately, Congress fully funded the operation.

So, there's been no movement on the tax credit, and Obama's record on land conservation has been mixed so far. As a result, we're moving this promise to Stalled -- at least for now.

Sources:The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Transition Team Recommendations: Support for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, Dec. 23, 2008