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NCBA says updated tax code gives cattle producers tools to expand operations and plan for the next generation

A lobbyist with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association says recent changes to the tax code provides incentives for producers to invest back into their operations.  Executive director, government affairs Kent Bacus says the One Big Beautiful Bill includes additional business deductions for producers.  “If you look at the Section 199A, which allows a lot of small businesses to claim that 20% deduction,” he says.  “That’s pretty significant.”

He says there are other significant business deductions.  “Capital improvements like Section 179, which allows you to invest and expand in different equipment purchases, but also software,” he says.  “And then when you look at that restoration of 100% bonus depreciation, this is a variety of tools that are now fully available for our producers.”

He tells Brownfield the updates are designed to protect the future of the cattle industry by supporting the transfer of operations from one generation to the next. “We saw that death tax exemption increased to $15 million per individual, $30 million per couple, and made permanent,” he says. “That is significant. On top of that, Congress also protected the step up in basis.”

Which Bacus says is one less capital gains tax that farmers and ranchers would be forced to pay during that transition.

President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill into law last July.

AUDIO: Kent Bacus, NCBA