WASHINGTON (September 7, 2017) –
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association today kicked off a media and
advertising campaign that will shine a spotlight on how various federal tax
provisions impact America’s cattle and beef producers. The campaign, which will
focus heavily on the death tax, aims to build support in Washington for
comprehensive tax reform that makes our tax code fair for agricultural
producers. The campaign will be centered around a new website, CattlemenForTaxReform.com, and will run through
September.
 

“We
have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enact truly comprehensive tax
reform, and we can’t afford to let this opportunity pass or to get it wrong,”
said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Craig Uden. “Family ranchers and
farmers deserve a full and permanent repeal of the onerous death tax, which
charges them in cash on the often-inflated appraised value of their property
and equipment. This campaign will shine a spotlight on the stories of real
ranchers who have had to deal with this issue, and it will also highlight
current tax provisions that we need to maintain, such as stepped-up basis, cash
accounting, and deducibility of interest payments.”

In addition to the launch of the new
website, the campaign kicked off with a two-minute video that will be heavily promoted
on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. The campaign’s first
video features fifth-generation California rancher Kevin Kester, whose family
struggled for a decade to pay a large death-tax bill after his grandfather
passed away. With the specter of the death tax still looming, Kevin is forced
to spend precious time and energy – not to mention thousands of dollars –
planning for how to pass the ranch on to his children and grandchildren.

“Without a doubt
the biggest challenge that keeps me up at night is trying to figure out how to
pass the ranching operation – our family operation on to the next generation,”
Kester says in the video as he drives across his Bear Valley Ranch near
Parkfield, Calif. “The current tax code is…leading toward more fragmentation of
farms and ranches, which is not good for the environment or our ranchers and
farmers.”

Over the coming weeks, NCBA will roll
out several other promoted videos and infographics featuring profiles of
ranchers and other members of the cattle-production community. The products
will enable American cattlemen and women to share their priorities for tax
reform in their own words. The campaign will also connect grassroots ranchers
and producers with their elected officials on Capitol Hill as tax-reform
legislation is considered this autumn.
 

“There’s
a lot of misinformation out there on the tax debate – especially when it comes
to who’s affected by the death tax,” Uden said. “This campaign will educate
elected officials, the media, and the general public about how the tax code
affects our American farmers and ranchers, who literally feed the world.”