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NewsFebruary 23, 1995

Wetlands, the 1995 Farm Bill, extension of the one-tenth-cent soils and parks tax, and tax reforms are priority issues being discussed by farmers and ranchers, says Lowell Mohler, chief administrative officer and corporate secretary of the Missouri Farm Bureau...

Wetlands, the 1995 Farm Bill, extension of the one-tenth-cent soils and parks tax, and tax reforms are priority issues being discussed by farmers and ranchers, says Lowell Mohler, chief administrative officer and corporate secretary of the Missouri Farm Bureau

Mohler and LeRoy Deles Dernier, director of field services and young farmer activities, were in Cape Girardeau Wednesday meeting with farmers to discuss state and national issues concerning agriculture.

Legislation on either the state or federal level has been introduced in most of the areas farmers and ranchers are concerned with," said Mohler.

Mohler touched on the extension of the one-tenth-cent soils and parks tax, which was initially approved in 1984 and extended in 1988.

"It still has three years to go," said Mohler. "But we're already looking to the future: Legislation has already been introduced for a simple extension, and the Farm Bureau supports that extension."

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The national 1995 Farm Bill at this point may be on the back burner, but hearings on the bill will start in April, said Mohler. "We could have bill in the fall."

"Rep. Bill Emerson (R-Cape Girardeau) will be on top of the Farm Bill," said Mohler. "He's a good man to be working for us. He understands the farming community and its problems."

Farmers are still waiting for a clear, simple and reasonable definition of wetlands that will allow them to farm their land and increase productivity through improved drainage and stream-bank stabilization without fear of violating federal wetlands regulations, said Mohler.

"The four federal agencies included in wetlands regulations are claiming to have resolved their differences and are preparing to re-examine farmland in efforts to determine what is officially a wetland," said Mohler.

"Another major issue for Farm Bureau this year will be tax reforms directed at improving the ability of farm families to create their own safety net," said Mohler. The Farm Bureau supports setting the maximum tax rate for real capital gains at 15 percent and increasing the estate tax exemption from $600,000 to $2 million and indexing the exemption for inflation.

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