Working for South Dakota’s Farmers and Ranchers
By Sen. John Thune
You can’t go far without seeing some sign of agriculture in South Dakota – it’s the lifeblood of our state. Advocating for the farm and ranch families in our state is one of my top priorities as a U.S. senator. I’m proud to be a voice for these hardworking South Dakotans who carry on an important way of life that helps feed and fuel our country and the world.
Farmers and ranchers are facing considerable headwinds today, and we need to deliver an updated farm bill that ensures farmers and ranchers have the resources they need to face today’s challenges and tomorrow’s. I’m disappointed that a new farm bill was not a priority for Democrats during the Biden administration, and I remain committed to finishing our work and sending an up-to-date farm bill to the president’s desk.
Depressed commodity prices and extreme weather events are among the challenges facing agriculture today. At the end of last year, Congress approved the $10 billion Emergency Commodity Assistance Program, which provides economic assistance for farmers and ranchers. South Dakota producers qualify for this aid, which is now available through the Farm Service Agency. Additional aid for farmers and ranchers affected by natural disasters will be available soon.
Improving the farm safety net is a priority of mine in the next farm bill. Crop insurance is the cornerstone of the farm safety net, and I introduced the Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act to make it more affordable for beginning farmers and ranchers in their first 10 years of operation. I also introduced the Livestock Disaster Assistance Improvement Act to help provide greater and expedited assistance to producers when they need it and to improve the drought monitor and other USDA data to make these programs more effective for producers.
I’m also working to help farmers and ranchers adopt next generation technologies in their operations. I recently introduced the Promoting Precision Agriculture Act, which would encourage partnership between the federal government and the private sector to develop standards for connectivity and security so farms and ranches can use precision technology with confidence. And I’m also working to accelerate deployment of broadband in unserved rural areas by encouraging the removal of unnecessary barriers from programs that promise to connect these areas to the internet.
Farmers’ and ranchers’ priorities are always at the top of my priority list. I remain committed to providing critical tax relief to American agriculture, including ending the death tax once and for all. I’ve also introduced legislation to restore mandatory country of origin labelling for beef. And as always, I continue to advocate for new markets for our agriculture commodities and support year-round, nationwide access to E15.
Life on a farm or a ranch isn’t easy. It involves backbreaking work and the consistent risk that a storm, drought, or an early freeze will wipe out herds or crops, sometimes in an instant. Add market fluctuations, and processing and transportation challenges. It’s a hard way to make a living. But despite its many challenges, it is a tradition worth living. I’m proud to serve the extraordinary men and women who keep the rich agriculture heritage of South Dakota alive and work to feed America and the world.
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Most powerful man in the Senate, and cannot get an Ag bill done to save his life.
Wait til DOGE starts on the spending in the Ag department and see how the good Senator reacts. With a $14M per individual exemption in the current federal estate tax, who exactly is Thune representing as he works to eliminate the tax?
Save Elon!
Sen. Thune keeps talking about eliminating the estate tax. If he succeeds, Elon Musk’s heirs would get a new tax break of over 100 billion dollars. Thune’s proposed tax cut for that ONE FAMILY is so large that they could buy every single home in South Dakota with the savings. Every one.
Musk has not paid income taxes on his net worth of $350 billion because he hasn’t sold his companies. And why would he sell, if his heirs could keep or sell them without taxation?
Thanks to Sen. Thune, neither Musk nor his children or grandchildren would pay income taxes…like…you…do. Even though Elon Musk is the wealthiest man in the world.
Anyway – get your tax returns filed. The deadline is near. It doesn’t appear like Washington will be eliminating YOUR taxes any time soon.
Same goes for other billionaires. With Thune’s proposal, the world’s richest can avoid paying income taxes for generation after generation, while the little people pay.
Yes, the IRS does not tax gains until they are realized.
The rationale is simple: you haven’t actually received any cash profit to pay tax with – your gain is still tied up in the asset.
What you’re suggesting is taxing unrealized capital gains.
One major reason the tax code waits for realization, asset values fluctuate. – if they tax when your stock is at a peak and then the stock crashed, you pay tax on wealth you no longer have.
Another reason is, U.S. tax law (and possibly the 16th Amendment) is built around taxing income. Unrealized gains might not be considered “income” until realized. A federal tax on mere wealth increase could face constitutional challenges as an unapportioned direct tax.
Perhaps the primary reason unrealized income isn’t taxed is capital flight. Wealthy individuals might simply move assets overseas or even relocate to friendlier jurisdictions to avoid an unrealized gains tax. This would also discourage investment and entrepreneurship due to the heavier annual tax burden on paper gains.
I’m sure a “wealth tax” sounds so simple, to those with simple minds.
Well, this “simple mind” thinks rich people should pay taxes like I do. The rich should pay taxes like my retired friend does on his 40k total income. They can pay taxes like salaried people do.
The estate tax ensures that the rich do pay… eventually.
The current tax exemption for estates is 14 million dollars. The estate must exceed that before taxes even begin. But if you don’t inherit a lot of money… like most people… you will WORK AND PAY TAXES on your meager income during that time of mourning. There will be no “death tax” relief for you.
Sen. Thune talks about helping the farmers? Really? Just the savings from his proposed tax cut would allow Elon Musk’s heirs to buy EVERY SINGLE ACRE of farmland in the state. (Or every home in South Dakota, as I mentioned earlier.) And that’s just one of the wealthy families that would benefit from this bonkers tax scheme.
The rich already pay taxes “just like you do”, they just don’t get their “earnings” from a salary
Investors pay taxes on the “earnings” of their realized gains.
Without investors risking their capital, a lot of people working for salaries will lose their jobs.
This is really just basic economics.