South Dakota Farm Bureau and South Dakota Farmers Union are taking opposite sides on the debate over the Trump tax plan.
Farm Bureau is buying the Republican line that big corporate tax cuts will help South Dakota agriculture:
“South Dakota farmers and ranchers have not seen any tax reform like this for many years. This will spur economic development and growth that is desperately needed right now for our agricultural community,” said [Scott] VanderWal, SDFB president and vice president for American Farm Bureau. “We appreciate the persistence this effort received by our South Dakota Congressional delegation.”
…“Farmers and ranchers need a tax code that recognizes their unique financial challenges, and I believe this is a positive step for our country and our business of feeding the world,” added VanderWal [South Dakota Farm Bureau Federation, press release, 2017.12.04].
Farmers Union isn’t mistaking trickle-down economics for good spring rain:
From the Farm Bill point of view, he’s putting us at jeopardy. If we’re going to be stuck with the pay-go system, and I don’t know why we wouldn’t be stuck with that… this Farm Bill is going to go away. And now they’re talking about cutting SNAP out of the Farm Bill or changing the provisions in SNAP [SDFU President Doug Sombke, audio transcribed from “South Dakota Farmers Union President Says Tax Reform Won’t Help Farmers,” Hub City Radio, 2017.12.06].
Farmers Union also sees hypocrisy in deficit spending for rich people:
From the farmers’ point of view, I’m looking at this huge debt… the $1.5 trillion dollars. There’s nothing that going to go away there… it doesn’t even pay back a trillion dollars.
When we were looking for infrastructure funding, when we were looking for health care funding, when we were looking for education funding, we couldn’t touch or increase the deficit. But by God, we’ve got the strongest record-setting levels of Wall Street and things are booming, and by God, we’re going to make sure we give these rich people tax breaks and add that to the deficit [Sombke, 2017.12.06].
According to one analysis, the House bill that Kristi Noem voted for actually increases taxes on many farmers, while the Senate bill provides more farm tax relief thanks to a 23% pass-through deduction added by Senator John Thune to make up for striking the Section 199 deduction that has coops so alarmed.
But no analysis or empirical data from past tax changes has shown that big corporate tax cuts have served to stimulate the farm economy in any way that has checked the consolidation and squeezing out of small farm operators. No analysis has shown that the tax cuts will spark enough economic growth to offset the increased deficits. But plenty of analysis and comments from Republican leaders show that tax cuts and the concomitant increased deficits will create budgetary pressure to cut Farm Bill programs that benefit farmers and all of rural America.
Farm Bureau is blowing corporate smoke. Farmers Union is trying to protect us from more Trump/GOP predations.
Farm Burro sold its soul to wingnut party years ago, same as the Chamber of Commerce national.
Farm Bureau is right about one thing: “South Dakota farmers and ranchers have not seen any tax reform like this for many years.” This is because there is very little reform and a lot of big corporate giveaways.
Importantly for many farmers, there is a provision in the new tax bill, as I understand it, that would do away with a production tax credit that flows down through cooperatives to their members. I heard on the radio in the last day or so that the average farmer and coop member would lose $9,000 per year under this provision of the tax bills. I wonder if this is what Don the Con meant when he said we would get tired of winning so much. I don’t know if the poor, middle class and farmers can stand to win so much.