President Joe Biden has been making it harder for farmers and those that own land between his combined tax rates in the so-called $1.8 trillion infrastructure bill and executive orders to “conserve” more. The proposed tax rates would add up to 61% on inherited wealth and eventually eliminate family farms and many small businesses. It would consolidate American agriculture into a handful of corporate farming enterprises that the government would easily control. And when it comes to the conservation of land, Biden’s plan would call 30% of U.S land to be “conserved” and off-limits, including private property. All of this has people wondering why Biden is trying to destroy American agriculture and its farmers.
Many family farms would be threatened by President Biden’s infrastructure bill since the proposals and projects within the bill must be paid for with massive tax increases. One of the tax increases would hit about 2 million family farms. In Iowa, farms would be hit with about $680,000 in new taxes, or 40% tax, which could kill or cost the farm itself.
In the infrastructure plan, they also call on doubling the top tax rate on capital gains and eliminating the tax benefit on appreciated assets. This means the heirs would end up owing a capital gains tax on inheritance instead of collecting. Tax exemptions would be reduced on the estate and once the numbers are crunched out, the heirs end up owing on the original inheritance.
Democratic House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott shared that he has “serious concerns” about the proposed changes in these tax provisions, adding that it could hurt family farmers, ranchers, and small businesses.
“While I appreciate that the proposal provides for some exemptions, the provisions could still result in significant tax burdens on many family farming operations,” Scott wrote in a letter to Biden.
Republicans and many Americans have strongly opposed Biden’s executive order to grab more land by the federal government. President Biden has also announced his executive order to call for 30% of U.S land to be preserved, up from the 13% that are national parks and other federal holdings.
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said that the new ‘30×30 goal has received a “great deal of attention” in farming and ranching communities nationwide. He said that the land deserves to be recognized for its conservation and open space benefits, adding that Biden’s intentions could ignore the voices of farmers and ranchers everywhere.
“America’s agriculturalists are asking whether their good work will be recognized by the administration. They have voluntarily enrolled more than 140 million acres of private land into federal and non-federal conservation programs: a landmass larger than the size of New York and California combined. Any discussion about conservation must begin with the recognition that farmers and ranchers are leaders in this space and have been for decades,” Duvall said.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts argues out against Biden’s plan as well, adding that they don’t need any sort of federal legislation to do the work for them. He said Biden doesn’t have the constitutional authority to and that he would have to work through Congress. He said counties needed to fight this at the local level and approve a conservation easement between landowners and the feds to put it into the “conserved” category. These contracts would have strings attached and let people know what’s going on in their own backyards. Biden continues to buy out the land and put the farmers out of business. If he was serious about conserving America’s land, he’d start with solving the problem at the border.
