An Attack on Ag?

Photo credit: Kevin Lewis

Over the past month I have read a lot about SB 178. For those of you that may not be as familiar with it or may not have time to keep up with happenings in legislature, this is a bill that will raise the taxes of the land that farmers use. This bill was proposed by state senator Jeff Melcher and it seeks to change the value of taxable land. The reason that Melcher gives for this change is that farmers are not paying their fair share of taxes and this bill will raise taxes to ensure that farmers are paying an equal amount of taxes. This seems fair at face value, but when we delve deeper into the issue you may see otherwise.

The reason that the land's value is lower for farmers comes down to one simple word: risk. Each year farmers plant crops and/or raise livestock and each year the uncontrollable force called mother nature decides what kind of year it will be for farmers. When we look at the incredible risk that these farmers are taking we also have to think about the fact that they are not planting crops and raising animals for kicks. They are doing it to survive and help our growing population survive. If the wheat that my dad plants this year gets mauled by a hailstorm then insurance might cover it, but that means that for the year until the next wheat crop is harvested we might be strapped for cash. Same idea if there is a drought, (which is in fact happening.) The truth is that we cannot control the weather and that means that some years farmers may have limited income due to adverse weather conditions.

This is why there is a system to determine the value of taxable land based on its productive value. There is a very complex formula that goes into determining this value that I am not qualified to explain but it has worked for many years and many other states in the nation are using it as well. So why fix what's not broken?

The bill could have disastrous effects on the livelihoods of many producers in Kansas. This bill would raise the taxes an estimated 473% for farmers according to the Kansas Department of Revenue. This means that even if farmers have a bad year they will still get taxed the same as the cash-rental rates. To put this into perspective a farmer that currently pays close to $9,000 would have to pay around $42,000 regardless of the yield. Now I do not think that it is fair to the farmer. After all the entire purpose of taxing based on productive potential is to insulate farmers from hard years.

Overall I believe that the argument of farmers not paying their fair share is unfounded. Next time you eat dinner think about where your food came from and how much farmers put into making your food. These taxes would hit some farms hard enough to go out of business and then where would that food on your plate come from? Would it even be there?