U.S. pork producers are encouraged by wins in the reconciliation package that passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
“America’s pork producers are one step closer to more certainty with the House’s reconciliation bill passage, which includes necessary legislation to keep farms afloat during uncertain times,” says National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) president Duane Stateler, a pork producer from McComb, Ohio. “At the same time, we will keep pressure on Congress to pass a five-year farm bill, which includes a fix to California Proposition 12.”
NPPC urges the Senate to advance provisions to ensure pork producers “can continue to farm and have more certainty to pass down their farms to the next generation.”
These provisions include:
1. Preserving necessary resources to protect the nation’s food supply through foreign animal disease (FAD) prevention, including:
o National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank
o National Animal Health Laboratory Network
o National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program
o National Veterinary Stockpile
2.Increasing market access programs for U.S. pork.
o The Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development Program (FMD) build export markets for U.S. agricultural products through generic marketing and promotion and the reduction of foreign import constraints. For every $1 spent on MAP and FMD programs, U.S. agriculture saw $24.50 in export gains and contributed to the creation of 225,800 full-and part-time jobs across the U.S. economy.
3. Maintaining resources for the feral swine eradication to protect the health of our herds.
o Established in the 2018 Farm Bill, the hugely successful Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program helps address the threat feral swine pose to agriculture, ecosystems, and human and animal health, especially through FADs like African swine fever.
4. Making the Qualified Business Income Deduction permanent, allowing producers to make organizational decisions for their business not based solely on tax liability.
5. Making Bonus Depreciation permanent at 100% to provide producers with flexibility to plan cash flows for major asset acquisitions.
6. Changing the way the Business Interest Expense Limitation is calculated to avoid harming producers relying on borrowing to make improvements or normalize cash flow in poor market conditions.
7. Making the Estate Tax Exemption increase permanent to prevent new tax exposure for family-owned farms.
8. Substantially increasing the expensing limitations of Section 179 to provide producers flexibility in planning cash flows around major asset acquisitions.
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