President Joe Biden’s proposal to eliminate stepped-up basis and tax capital gains at death has run into opposition from a key Democrat. The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Georgia Democrat David Scott, says the tax plan could hurt farmers even though the tax liability would be deferred as long as a family farm stays in operation.
“The potential for capital gains to be imposed on heirs at death of the landowner would impose a significant financial burden on these operations,” Scott says in a letter to Biden.
“Additionally, my understanding of the exemptions is that they would just delay the tax liability for those continuing the farming operation until time of sale, which could result in further consolidation in farmland ownership,” he says. “This would make it more difficult for young, beginning, and socially disadvantaged farmers to get into farming.”
Why it matters: Scott’s letter is especially noteworthy because he’s saying that just deferring tax liability isn’t enough.
Corteva sets first greenhouse gas targets
Corteva Agriscience, the seed and ag chemical giant that resulted from the Dow-DuPont merger, is out with its first commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The company says the pledge is in line with the goal set in the Paris climate agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“Rather than this being a target of what we think we can do, this is a target of what we need to do to do our share to contribute” to meeting the Paris goal, Josiah McClellan, Corteva’s corporate sustainability leader, told Agri-Pulse.
By 2030, the company says it will cut the intensity of emissions from its internal operations and electricity usage by 65% from 2020 levels. The intensity of its supply-chain emissions, which includes the emissions from commercial seed production, will be reduced by 20%. Reductions in intensity reflect cuts relative to the company’s projected revenue, meaning that the cuts are indexed to company growth.
By the way: The pledge still must be validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative, an independent group that evaluates corporate carbon commitments.
Tyson gets new CEO when latest leader steps down after eight months
Tyson Foods has named a new president and CEO, replacing Dean Banks with Donnie King, who had been serving as chief operating officer.
The company said Banks, who took the helm eight months ago, was leaving for “personal reasons” but did not elaborate. “Upon deep personal reflection, and discussions with my family, the board, and my colleagues, I believe that stepping down and concentrating on my family is the right decision at this time,” Banks said, according to a Tyson press release.
King, who will be the company’s fifth CEO in as many years, has worked in Tyson’s poultry business for 36 years. “He has held a variety of executive leadership positions, including president of North American operations, managing all operational aspects of poultry, fresh meats and prepared foods. He has also been group president of international,” the company said.
Donnie King
Ag feedstocks push RIN prices higher
The prices of Renewable Identification Numbers, used to comply with Renewable Fuel Standard blending requirements, are at the highest level they’ve been in the history of the RFS program, the Energy Information Administration says.
“Rising global demand for the agricultural feedstocks used to make corn fuel ethanol and biomass-based diesel fuels has driven fuel ethanol and biomass-based diesel prices higher in 2021, pushing their corresponding RIN prices to new highs,” EIA noted in a report.
Both ethanol D6 RIN prices and biomass-based diesel D4 RIN prices hit daily all-time high prices May 18, reaching $1.90 per gallon and $2 a gallon, respectively.
Since the beginning of the year, ethanol D6 RIN prices have jumped by 129% and biomass-based diesel D4 RIN prices have risen by 96%.
Mexican wheat imports to rise in 2021-22
New data from Mexico’s Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development show the country’s farmers are planting less wheat for the 2021-22 marketing year as drought conditions persist, according to an analysis from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
That means Mexico will likely be importing more wheat from the U.S., the largest exporter to Mexico.
Mexico is now forecast to import 5.1 million metric tons of wheat for 2021-22 (July-June), up from a March prediction of 4.9 million. The new estimate for the 2020-21 marketing year is 4.7 million metric tons.
Drought has been hurting production in Sonora, the country’s biggest wheat-producing state, according to the FAS analysis out of Mexico City. Farmers planted 6% less in Sonora during the fall-winter cycle.
USA Rice waiting on duties for Indian rice
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has proposed hitting India with retaliatory duties on brown basmati rice following the conclusion of an investigation into the country’s digital services tax.
USTR announced the tariffs Wednesday on India, Austria, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK, but suspended them for 180 days to provide more time to complete ongoing multilateral negotiations.
The USA Rice Federation says it is strongly in favor of the tariffs on Indian rice.
“We understand that rice was not the intended target for these digital service tax investigations, but retaliation provides the opportunity for the U.S. to start leveling the playing field against India’s blatant over-subsidization of their domestic rice production and exports,” says Peter Bachmann, USA Rice’s vice president of international trade policy.
Rural House Dems press for broadband funding flexibility
The Blue Dog Coalition, a group of mostly rural House Democrats, is asking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow broadband funding to be flexible in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill.
In a letter, the group says rural Americans deserve the same access to internet speeds as their urban counterparts.
“We were encouraged to see the Biden-Harris Administration recognize the importance of targeting unserved and underserved areas for broadband infrastructure funds under the American Rescue Plan,” the 11 lawmakers said. “We hope that the upcoming infrastructure package will build on that success and that improved data collection can better target broadband investments in unserved and underserved communities.”
Questions? Tips? Contact Philip Brasher at philip@agri-pulse.com
Daybreak June 3: House Ag chairman warns Biden on taxes
