Press Releases
Senator Roberts Calls for Emergency Drought Assistance, Capital Gains Tax Deferments for Livestock Producers
Aug 04 2006
WASHINGTON, DC – Recognizing the extreme drought impacting farmers and ranchers across the nation and in Kansas, Senator Roberts and other farm state Senators began two major bipartisan drought initiatives to bring producers relief. The first is a request to Senate leadership for agreement on an agriculture disaster assistance package. The second is a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson requesting an extension in the capital gains tax deferment period for livestock producers forced to sell off parts of the herd.
In the letter sent late last night to Senators Bill Frist (R-TN) and Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Roberts and a bipartisan group of farm state Senators said, "Farmers and ranchers are running out of options and, more importantly, time. We strongly urge you to agree upon a scheduled time on the legislative calendar to debate and quickly pass an agriculture disaster assistance package, shortly after the Senate returns in September." The Senators went on to say, "between now and the end of the Senate recess period, we will be working to put together a bipartisan package that we can take to the floor. One option may be to include drought assistance for crop year 2006 in the FY 2007 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which already contains disaster relief for the 2005 crop year and was passed by the Appropriations Committee on June 22. We respectfully call upon you to support this request and work with us to provide much needed relief to American farmers and ranchers." The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor illustrates that a severe drought now covers an area from North Dakota to southern Texas; from western Arizona to Georgia. In Kansas, 38 counties have been approved for emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Acreage. As a result of this drought, many livestock producers have had to sell of part of their herd. Conditions are expected to worsen as summer proceeds. The Senators said in a letter to Secretary Paulson, "Persisting drought conditions have left forage sources unfortunately scarce, and it is currently not in the best interest of livestock producers to replace livestock. However, these producers would be required to purchase replacement animals to avoid realizing the gain from their 2002 weather related livestock sales. As such, an appropriate extension of the capital gains tax deferment period would allow producers to re-invest at a more reasonable and opportune time and help them avoid suffering further losses due to uncontrollable drought conditions." Senator Roberts said, "Now is not the time to replace your stock when you are facing extreme drought conditions." In recognition of the extreme drought conditions faced by many producers, Congress, in 2004, amended Section 1 033( e) of the Tax Code to extend the tax deferment period for weather-related sales of livestock -known as involuntary conversions -from two to four years. In May, Senator Roberts, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, urged U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns to release CRP acreage immediately for emergency grazing. Earlier this month, Senator Roberts requested an expansion of counties eligible for emergency haying and grazing in Kansas.
