Farmers should rejoice

Dear Editor,

Congress plans to unveil a second phase of tax cuts by the end of the summer, which would make many of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s benefits permanent.

America’s farmers should rejoice. Under the new tax code, the estate- and gift-tax exemption for farm owners passing on land and other assets to their heirs doubled to roughly $11.2 million an individual and $22.4 million per married couple.

This drastically reduced the number of farm owners who owe estate and gift taxes, which allows us to improve estate planning to keep farm operations in the hard-working families that built them and provide for our local communities. When we pay less in federal taxes, we can focus on hiring more farm workers, investing in new machinery and equipment, implementing new technology to improve our environmental stewardship, and expanding operations to increase our production of homegrown food, fuel, and fiber. While the estate- and gift-tax exemptions are currently set to expire in 2025, congressional Republicans are now working to make them permanent.

Like many farm owners across the country, we hope that these changes will be implemented.

Mark and Sarah Mathe

Mathe Farms

Ida, Mich.