Estate tax, E15, farm bill remain top priorities

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — During Philip Nelson’s first tenure as Illinois Farm Bureau president, ag groups championed year-round E15 and estate tax reforms.

Nelson, a fourth-generation grain and livestock farmer from Seneca, returned to IFB’s top post last December, after serving from 2003 to 2013 — and those same issues remain among the legislative priorities.

“At the state level, we’re working on the Farm Family Preservation Act. We met with the governor at the candidates forum and told him how important that is for us. He actually said, ‘We’re going to work with you on this.’ So, hopefully in veto session we can get it across the finish line and it’s big for our people,” Nelson said in an interview at the Illinois State Fair’s Ag Day.

“We’ve been at the $4 million threshold for decades, and we need to increase that.”

The Family Farm Preservation Act sitting in both the Illinois House and Senate would increase the estate tax exemption from $4 million to $6 million and only tax dollars above that threshold.

Under the current law, once an estate reaches the $4 million threshold, taxes are assessed to the estate’s entire value.

The federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per individual and $30 million for married couples.

“It’s not as much as the federal level, but if we make it a true exemption, it will give a lot of relief to farm families,” Nelson said.

At the federal level, a new farm bill and year-round E15 remain remain on the table. Farmers are also currently working under the 2018 farm bill that included three extensions after its expiration in 2023.

“We got E15 in the House farm bill, but unfortunately it didn’t make it out of the Senate. We’re very disappointed that the Senate Ag Committee didn’t advance the farm bill. So, we’ve got our work cut out for that, and we’re continuing to push it. The window is getting short for the end of the year that we’ve got to get this addressed,” Nelson said.

“We’ve got to have that five-year farm bill because it gives farmers surety on crop insurance and planning for the future. It’s just amazing how we’ve kicked that can down the road.

“The real stumbling block is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The ideology between Democrats and Republicans are far apart. The Republicans say if you take SNAP benefits after a point in time, you need to have a job, where the Democrats don’t believe that’s the case. So, we’ve got to get that worked through to get this thing advanced.”

Nelson has spent these past months since being elected IFB president meeting with members throughout the state.

“We’re doing kind of a listening tour in the northern, central and southern parts of the state. I’ve completed two of them and have one to go,” he said in the Aug. 14 interview.

“I think it’s important that we hear what’s on the minds of our members. So, that’s what we’re doing to try to address that and trying to get everybody pulling in the same direction again.”

Growing Season

The growing season on Nelson’s family farm in La Salle County has been a mixed bag of heavy rains, no rain, and wind.

“I was watching a meteorologist on Channel 32 out of Chicago on Aug. 10 who said it was the sixth anniversary of the derecho, and six years ago I had flat corn. I keep holding my breath when every one of these wind gusts come through that we don’t have to deal with that. There has been some downed corn and that worries me,” he said.

“We are getting rain now to finish the bean crop and put the finishing touches on corn, but I think we’re off the high. Our corn was hurt from going too long without water. The soybeans are playing catch-up. I think we’ll have a good bean crop, but I do believe we’re off the high-water mark in the corn.”