A Politico article (05-15-2017), on House Republicans’ recent tax proposal quoted Pat Wolff, AFBF’s tax specialist. Politico noted the proposal to lessen the corporate tax rate is “riling a host of industries that say they have little choice but to rely on borrowed money and fear that they will face big tax increases.” Agriculture is among these industries.  

“Farming and ranching is almost completely financed with borrowed money,” Wolff told Politico. “There aren’t stock options or venture capital or other ways for us to raise money so we rely almost entirely on loans from banks, life-insurance companies and from USDA programs, so anything that makes capital more expensive adds to the cost of business.” She also noted that even with lower proposed tax rates in place, farmers and ranchers cold see a tax increase.