Byron Dorgan: “I recently joined Senator Hagel of Nebraska in introducing legislation that is important to the survival of farm…”

“I recently joined Senator Hagel of Nebraska in introducing legislation that is important to the survival of farm families and rural America. Our bipartisan legislation, called the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Tax Incentive Act, provides significant capital gains tax breaks to encourage retiring farmers and ranchers to sell their farm property to others who will continue to use the property in the farming business. Identical legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives. As many of our colleagues know, the economic well-being of many rural communities across the country is at a crossroad. Over the past several decades, jobs on family farms and in Main Street businesses in small towns have been disappearing from the Nation's Heartland. Rural communities are facing an out-migration crisis of epic proportions. Senator Hagel and I have been working at the Federal level to adopt fiscal policies that will give rural America the tools and funding it needs to reverse the out-migration problem. One of the challenges for stabilizing and revitalizing our rural communities is to ensure that the Federal Government backs strong farm policies that support this generation and the next generation of family farmers. A strong farm economy is critical to the survival of many rural communities over the long term. But the number of family farmers, who are the backbone of the agricultural sector, has been steadily declining over the course of the past century.”