Commentary: Farmers asked to speak up, help guide farm policies

By Zippy Duvall

Late summer is here, which means for Farm Bureau, our policy development process is heading into full swing. As a grassroots organization, this is the time when our members speak up on challenges they face on the farm and within their communities.

Those concerns become policy resolutions, which work their way up through the county, state, and ultimately, the national level. Every policy resolution brought to the floor at the delegate session of the American Farm Bureau Convention in January started with one farmer speaking up.

Farm Bureau stands as the voice of agriculture, thanks to this active participation by our members. From the farm bill and agricultural labor reform to infrastructure and rural broadband, your American Farm Bureau team is working diligently on a wide array of issues in Washington, D.C.

We rely on you to guide our policy because you know better than anyone what works and what doesn’t on your farm. That is also why our nation’s leaders and elected officials know that when Farm Bureau speaks, we are speaking for farmers and ranchers.

As I wrote recently, time is running out for Congress to pass a modernized farm bill this year. Families—on and off the farm—cannot afford a delay. As members of Congress have returned home for the August recess, our members have shared how important this legislation is for our country.

Americans in every region, state, small town and big city are counting on our farmers and ranchers to keep our nation’s food supply secure—and we’re counting on Congress to deliver a farm bill so that we can do just that.

Occasionally, there are also new or emerging issues that impact farmers and ranchers, but we don’t have specific policy to guide our work. This is when our team in Washington asks for direction directly from our grassroots members via the policymaking process.

With many critical tax benefits for farm and ranch families set to expire in 2025, we are now asking members to ensure we have clear policy in light of the potential for severe economic consequences.

We have a second ask of you, and it’s important. We need farmers and ranchers across the country to meet with lawmakers this year, so they act swiftly to implement the tax reform farmers and ranchers need in 2025.

Tax reform is crucial for ensuring the economic sustainability of our farms and ranches. Lower tax rates, small business deductions and higher estate tax exemptions help our farm families manage finances more effectively, provide opportunities for investment and even help ease the difficult planning for succession.

That is also why we have our eyes fixed on this quickly approaching deadline that will place many of these critical benefits at risk. Without renewal of these benefits, farmers face a steep tax increase and potentially tough decisions going forward.

Our farm and ranch families need a permanent tax code that provides stability and recognizes the unique financial challenges farm businesses face as they work to provide a secure food supply for our nation.

At Farm Bureau, the call for tax reform has come in many forms over the years, and we continue to work with and on behalf of our members to get a solution before the 2025 deadline. That is also why addressing the tax concerns through the policy development process is a top priority.

We want to hear from our members about how these issues impact your farms and ranches directly. This feedback not only helps us work on your behalf but also gives us farmer and rancher stories—powerful testimonials—we can share to ensure all lawmakers understand the impact of tax reform on farm and ranch families across the country. (California Farm Bureau members may offer input by emailing Federal Policy Director Matthew Voihl at mvoihl@cfbf.com.)

This is your Farm Bureau, and these are your policies. Together, we will continue to shape the future of American agriculture and ensure that our farms, ranches and rural communities thrive for generations to come.

I am deeply grateful for the hard work and dedication you put into shaping our great organization at the local, state and national levels and am eager to see what comes from this year’s policy development process.

(Vincent “Zippy” Duvall, a poultry, cattle and hay producer from Georgia, is president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. This commentary is adapted from Aug. 7 and July 31 editions of his column, The Zipline, which appears online at www.fb.org/the-zipline.)