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Indiana Sen. Jean Leising knows it’s going to be another tough year for beef and hog producers, and 2016’s record national yields for corn and soybeans indicate that farm profitability will decline for the third straight year.  But she says a statutory revision made by the state legislature last year might at least help ease the pain for agricultural producers when it comes to paying their property taxes. “The drop in net farm income again this year makes the changes Indiana made to the farmland-taxation calculation in 2016 even more important,” Leising adds. [node:read-more:link]

Seven years ago, Kansas lawmakers adopted new incentives for individuals to move to the state and make one of its 77 rural counties their new home. The Rural Opportunity Zones program offers a mix of income tax waivers (for up to five years) and student-loan repayments of $15,000. But as much as he supports the idea, Kansas Rep. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee wants your input into the next farm bill.  By going to this link, you can leave your comments. [node:read-more:link]

A New York state Assemblywoman has introduced legislation on carbon farming that she says is the first of its kind. The idea is to promote environmentally friendly farming practices while, at the same time, putting money back into the pockets of farmers. Democrat Didi Barrett has sponsored a bill that creates a carbon farming tax credit. Barrett, who represents portions of Columbia and Dutchess Counties, says the plan will give farmers a new tax break while helping the state reach its climate change goals. “This would make New York state the first in the country,” Barrett says. [node:read-more:link]

Rural America was front and center in the 2016 national election. Media headlines focused attention on our nation’s acute rural challenges – the decline of critical sectors like mining and manufacturing, technology-driven worker dislocation in those industries and agriculture, inadequate job opportunities for dislocated workers, infrastructure challenges, community health crises, and more. But a deeper understanding of rural America reveals a companion picture – one where innovation and collaborative local leadership are turning challenges into opportunities. [node:read-more:link]

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley should be commended for his efforts to keep California’s Proposition 2 egg law from burdening Missouri egg farmers and egg consumers. At the same time, he should be chastised for trying to make it a partisan issue.  Hawley’s office last week issued a press release that announced he would challenge the law -- that requires that eggs produced and sold in the state are laid by hens that have adequate room to stand up, sit down, turn around and extend their limbs without touching another bird or the sides of the cage -- “all the way to the U.S. [node:read-more:link]

Less than a year after legislators approved a bill defining how municipal bodies should treat agritourism, the New  Hampshire Senate is considering another bill that would completely remove local regulation on the issue.  During a Senate Public and Municipal Affairs Committee hearing, the bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Bob Giuda, argued that the law passed in 2016 didn’t go far enough to protect the commercial interests of farmers.  “We are allowing our local communities ... to define commerce in our state,” he said. [node:read-more:link]

State Fair officials on Friday announced they would give the city a minimum of $6 million to fix up Fair Park. The funds, which the State Fair is contractually obligated to use on such improvements, are an increase over last year's total.  But the announcement coincided with increasing scrutiny of the State Fair's finances and whether the 24-day festivities make for a bad neighbor to the impoverished residents who surround the 277-acre city-owned park. [node:read-more:link]

A recently introduced bill would make Massachusetts the first state in the nation to commit entirely to renewable energy sources for electricity, heating and transportation.Called the 100 Percent Renewable Energy Act, the measure has already garnered the support of 53 House and Senate members — more than a quarter of the legislators on Beacon Hill, said Ben Hellerstein, state director with Environment Massachusetts. [node:read-more:link]

The value of farmland across the country continues to decline while credit remains tight for producers and net incomes fall. Low commodity prices, falling incomes, dropping land values and rising demand for credit are weighing down the nation’s agricultural producers, but Johansson told Agri-Pulse he will also be stressing to lawmakers that the farm economy is still strong when considered in a historical perspective. [node:read-more:link]