The Nebraska Unicameral has passed many pieces of legislation over the years to incentivize and support agri-businesses and producers. The Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Act and the Livestock Modernization Act are examples offering tax credits in return for investments in agriculture. Investment in agriculture processing or manufacturing can qualify for sales and income tax credits under the state’s general business incentive programs. Tax exemptions are provided to beginning farmers who qualify under the Beginning Farmer Act. And more recently the Legislature has provided grants to agriculturally related projects. Lawmakers allocated grants to the Sustainable Beef processing plant in North Platte, a rail park in Hershey seeking to build a soybean processing facility, and created a program to award grants to small meat processors.
Nebraska is not alone in providing business incentives to agriculture. Other states do as well. A recent paper by Emma Kuhns, Mark White, and Jonathan Coppess of the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois examines the tax incentives provided by states to agriculture. Other states’ programs come in many shapes and forms. The most common are loan programs, grants, tax credits, or tax exemptions. But a few programs also promote agritourism, local food, and local meat processing.
Source: nefb.org
Photo Credit: karolina-grabowska
Categories: Nebraska, Business, Crops, Soybeans