10-10 NWR NCBA and IRS

This is your Northwest report for Monday, October 10th, I'm David Sparks and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association has joined 800 other organizations to express their displeasure with a new proposal from the Treasury Department. NCBA was party to a letter sent to Treasury Sec. Jacob Lew addressing some minority discount rules. Mark Mazier with the Treasury Department says the changes would close a tax loophole that some taxpayers use to understate the value of assets for estate and gift purposes. Danielle Beck, NCBA's Dir. of Government Affairs sees it differently. "In August, the IRS issued proposed rules that would eliminate valuation discount planning and increase the estate tax and gift taxes by 30% or more on family-owned businesses. Ultimately, the bottom line, all you need to know is that this would result in fewer family businesses surviving from one generation to the next." Beck said the proposed changes have the attention of Congress.

Elsewhere,Sally Rockey marked her first year as executive director of the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research by putting out the call to Northwest farmers and ranchers, among many, for "revolutionary" ideas that can help farmers feed a world population that's expected to swell beyond 9 billion by mid-century.