DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton reported today that, “The two largest general farm organizations have a different take on what should happen with the Section 199A tax provision, but 77 separate businesses in 28 states also have written a letter to Congress calling on lawmakers to fix the problems created by the ‘grain glitch.’
“The letter includes companies as small as a local grain elevator on up to grain-trading giants such as Archer Daniels Midlands Co., Bunge North America, Cargill Inc., Tyson Foods and even Anheuser-Busch.
“The companies, writing to the four main leaders in the House and Senate, stated, ‘We are concerned that language in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has fundamentally disrupted the agricultural economy by giving farmers, ranchers and dairy producers a substantial tax incentive not to sell their products to thousands of independent companies across the American heartland.'”
The DTN article noted, “Further, the businesses stated that if the Section 199A provision is not changed, ‘countless businesses — including thousands of small, family-owned independent companies — will be forced into costly restructuring, selling to rivals or going out of business. This will not only destroy homegrown jobs and rural economies, but it will also disrupt the supply chain for agricultural products and destabilize the market for everything from milk and grain to meat and poultry.’
“The agribusinesses made it clear they support the language change in the tax code backed by farmer cooperatives and businesses that would provide farmers with a deduction similar to what they received under the old Section 199.”
