(Neb. Farm Bureau release) -- Nebraska Farm Bureau is urging U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson to support S. 2637, the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2008 introduced by Sen. Chuck Hagel. “Nebraska Farm Bureau believes this bill would create capital gains tax relief for farmers and ranchers who sell farm land and benefit beginning and expanding farm operations,” Farm Bureau President Keith Olsen said. It also will “zero out” capital gains taxes when agricultural land is sold to a beginning farmer or rancher and cuts the tax in half when farmland is sold to other agricultural producers. Today’s average farmer is 55-years old, Olsen noted. “As farms and ranches are sold in contemplation of retirement, selling prices reflect the cost of capital gains taxes. This makes farmland more expensive for beginning or expanding farmers and ranchers and can even push land out of agriculture when non-agriculture buyers are able to pay more.”
