We've been talking about it for the last year and a half in presentations, meetings and publications, but the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy (Strategy) is now available for review and open for public comment.

 

Now it is time for you to take action to support the Strategy. Illinois Farm Bureau has made it easy by providing you with a link at which you can make comments to the Illinois EPA.

 

PLEASE ACT TODAY...the comment period ends at midnight tomorrow (1/24/15).

IFB speaks out against Obama's "Robin Hood" Tax Plan

 

Illinois Farm Bureau quickly raised objections to the tax proposal President Obama laid out in Tuesday night's State of the Union Address. It would raise the top capital gains tax rate to 28 percent and eliminate the "stepped up basis" -- a provision Obama calls the "trust fund loophole" -- that allow farm families to pass along appreciated assets without paying capital gains.

 

The President proposes to use the proceeds for increased child care tax credits and free community college tuition for qualified students. Farmers would be particularly hard hit by any increase in capital gains rates because they typically pay at the highest rate when they sell assets.

 

The Republican-controlled Congress is also very critical of a plan that lacks many details, especially those surrounding the proposed elimination of the "stepped up basis." While we're confident the plan doesn't have any legislative legs, there's no question it will be debated over the next two years in the context of the on-going "income inequality" discussion, one of the recurring themes we'll hear in the upcoming 2016 presidential race.

 

This article appeared in Working the Hill; a national affairs piece written by Illinois Farm Bureau's Director of National Legislation, Adam Nielsen.

  

Scott CFB makes $1,000 Pledge at their Board Meeting Wednesday.

 

Illinois Farm Bureau has raised 69 percent of its $230,000 fund-raising goal to help pay for a new agricultural exhibit at the Saint Louis Science Center.

 

 The campaign, which officially kicked off during the IFB Annual Meeting in December, has raised a total of $159,270. County Farm Bureaus were challenged to contribute to the project by May 1. IFB will match county contributions of up to $100,000.

 

As of Thursday, IFB had received pledges from 42 county Farm Bureaus and individuals totaling $65,520. IFB matched $63,750. IAA Foundation donated $30,000.

 

If you would like to make an individual pledge and link it to County Farm Bureau, click here.

Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) and the University of Illinois plan to provide farmers with the latest farm bill program information during 14 regional meetings starting at the end of January. The closest session will be on Feb. 6 at 1 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield.

 

"These meetings are three hours in length and intended to provide producers and landowners with everything they will need to make their important farm bill decisions," said IFB's Doug Yoder, senior director of affiliate and risk management.

 

The sessions also will include demonstrations of online tools farmers can use to determine which option is best for their individual farms.

 

Yoder, along with Gary Schnitkey, U of I professor of agricultural economics, and Jonathan Coppess, U of I assistant professor of agricultural law and policy, will lead the sessions.

 

They are free, but require pre-registration. To register, click here.