Relief from high inheritance taxes expires at the end of December, 2012. In the article “A Storm of Estate Taxes Threatens Farm Country,” Lynne Finnerty says that the new estate tax exemption will drop to one million dollars and the tax rate will increase to fifty-five percent (Finnerty). Lowering the estate tax exemption while increasing the rate may consequently cause the liquidation of many multigenerational family farms and an ultimate decrease in the world’s food supply.
Comprehending the effect of estate taxes on farm families requires a general understanding of farm economics. In Illinois, for example, there are 76,000 farms and more than 28 million acres of farm land. Therefore, the average farm size is 368 acres, including hobby farms (“Facts About Illinois Agriculture”). Illinois is a major corn producing state and the cost of corn production in 2012 is $832 per acre. The revenue from a 170 bushel per acre corn yield at $5.50 per bushel is $880 (Caldwell). Thus, an average corn farmer in the state of Illinois can expect to net approximately forty-eight dollars per acre on his corn crop in 2012. The average farm ground value in Illinois in 2011 increased to $5800 per acre (Tartar). These numbers are important to note when analyzing journalistic and political viewpoints concerning the effects of estate taxes on family farms.
The expiration of the tax relief act will negatively affect the next generation of American farmers. Farming does not generate enough income to meet the estate taxes that will be owed on a piece of farm ground. According to Editor Stu Ellis, in “End Estate Tax, Cut Deficit,” “Despite the high value of farm property, estates have relatively low liquid assets necessary to pay the high estate...
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"Kill The Death Tax." NODEATHTAX.ORG. The American Family Business Institute, 2009. Web.
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Sanders, Bernie. "Tax Code Must Stop Coddling The Rich." Politico. Capitol News Company, LLC,
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Tarter, Steve. "Central Illinois Farmland Prices Spike in 2011." pjstar.com. Gatehouse Media, 4
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Pollan introduces his argument by providing statistical evidence which shows the mass amount of money that is spent on corn. He appeals to the audience's logos by revealing that “taxpayers will pay farmers 4 billion
In the great story of a young girls triumph over poverty, rejection and innumerable failures as a child, she will unfortunately never truly prosper as an adult in the world in which she lives. Our protagonist, Sara Smolinsky who is the youngest of the four Smolinsky girls, has the most motivation in life to be independent, and fend for herself. However to achieve this goal she would need to break loose of the family chain and peruse a life elsewhere. It appears she has done so as she runs away from home seeking an education. Six years or so go by and she has more than fulfilled her dream of independence, however as members of her family take on life threatening sickness she once again feels the need to come home, and falls back under the spell of family obligation. As for other characters in the book, the same problem with familial duties always interferes with what one truly wants.
The film “Iowa- An American Portrait” was narrated by Tom Brokaw. It described the land, people, education, work, religion, and family life of Iowa. One of the main topics of the film was the general view of Iowa- the Farm State. Iowa has more than two- hundred- thousand farms; ninety- eight percent of Iowa’s total land is used for production; with ninety percent of total land being used for the production of food.
government to set the minimum price and amount sold of a good at the market.
The Affordable Care Act is projected to have a net cost of $1.2 trillion over the next ten years, even though we were told it would save money once implemented. The Agricultural Act of 2014, a/k/a the “Farm Bill,” was originally estimated to cost $956 billion over the next ten years [$756 billion dedicated to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps), which has nothing to do with farming], however, several news sources are already stating the Congressional Budget Office projections are too low. The list of programs continues to expand, both in size and scope, as we get further and further away from our founding principles. Our nation is becoming more and more liberal. Our government, more and more secular. The removal of our founding principles and Judeo-Christian values have permeated not just the government but most industries, especially entertainment and academia, and thereby have the ability to affect most public policy decisions. There are those who believe:
A. “Farm Policy.” CQ Researcher 10 Aug. 2012: 693-716. Web. The Web. The Web.
In 1919, farmers from thirty states, including Missouri, saw a need. They gathered in Chicago and formed the American Farm Bureau Federation. In 1919, they had one goal, they wanted to speak for themselves with the help of their own national organization. Since 1919, Farm Bureau has operated by a philosophy that states: “analyze the problem of farmers and develop a plan of action for these problems” (Missouri). In the past 94 years, the A...
The effect from both the Dust Bowl drought and the Great Depression made it hard on farmers in the early 1900’s; it was hard for farmers to produce crops (“The Ultimate AP US History”). Farmers with small businesses were forced to end
Health habits formed in childhood are incredibly hard to break as they grow into adults, and an unhealthy child population equals an unhealthy adult population before too long. The farm bill’s specific catering to such a small number of crops cuts down on what readily available products there are to feed to the population, especially as the farm bill “…offers little, if any, support to the California farmers who produce nearly half of our nation’s fruits, nuts, and vegetables, despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutritional guidelines calling for a diet rich in all three” (Farm Bill Should Focus on Healthful Foods, 31). I agree that by ignoring these extremely important farms in the face of making money we are only hurting ourselves in the long run. Most of our population is not a wealthy one, and to remove healthy choices from our reach and yet still expect us to be a healthy, thriving class of people is not only impossible but also
Farmers everywhere in the United States during the late nineteenth century had valid reasons to complaint against the economy because the farmers were constantly being taken advantage of by the railroad companies and banks. All farmers faced similar problems and for one thing, farmers were starting to become a minority within the American society. In the late nineteenth century, industrialization was in the spotlight creating big businesses and capitals. The success of industrialization put agriculture and farmers on the down low, allowing the corporations to overtake the farmers. Since the government itself; such as the Republican Party was also pro-business during this time, they could have cared less about the farmers.
The young, recently married farmers living in the Great Plains during the 1930s had a terrible life. First off, being married meant having multiple people to provide for. This is more responsibility, and leads to dividing up the food between family members. Then, the country was also in an economic downturn, so the price of food and crops were low. Farmers already had debt because of new machines and land that was purchased during World War I to keep up with the demand during the war. Then the depression caused banks to fail, so farmers lost all their money that was in the bank. Everyday life was treacherous, and there were few amenities in the home, with no plumbing or electricity. Life was awful for a farmer during the Great Depression.
Agricultural subsidies is a very complex and controversial economic topic today. It will continue to be a hot topic as government continues it. It is largely debated in the United States as well as in other countries. The reason it is so largely debated is because it literally have an effect on the entire world market. Not to mention that the farm has been booming the last 5 to 10 years. This topic also tends to draw strong opinions in our area in particular due to the large agricultural community in our region. However, even within different states there are many supporters as well as opponents to these government subsidies.
Murphy, Tom. (2013). Why are some Kenyan farmers abandoning the one acre fund?, Humanosphere, Retrieved from, http://www.humanosphere.org/basics/2013/10/kenyan-farmers-abandoning-one-acre-fund/,
Farmers are essentially the back-bone of the entire food system. Large-scale family farms account for 10% of all farms, but 75% of overall food production, (CSS statistics). Without farmers, there would be no food for us to consume. Big business picked up on this right away and began to control the farmers profits and products. When farmers buy their land, they take out a loan in order to pay for their land and farm house and for the livestock, crops, and machinery that are involved in the farming process. Today, the loans are paid off through contracts with big business corporations. Since big business has such a hold over the farmers, they take advantage of this and capitalize on their crops, commodities, and profits. Farmers are life-long slaves to these b...
1991. The off of the farm income of this sector is only $20,847 per farm. The