As Congress and Federal regulatory agencies kick into high gear, ASA has joined diverse stakeholder groups in several coalition letters.  ASA joined farm and commodity groups in letters to House and Senate tax-writing committees this week advocating for tax code provisions of importance to soybean farmers: Section 179 small business expensing and bonus depreciation.

“We strongly encourage you to restore the maximum amount of expensing under Section 179 to $500,000 as it was previously set in 2013. Furthermore, we strongly encourage you to reinstate the expired 50 percent bonus depreciation for the purchase of new capital assets, including agricultural equipment. We are concerned that the failure to renew these expired provisions of the tax code will place additional burdens on farm and ranch families who are asset-rich and cash-poor and already face an unpredictable tax code that encourages the breakup of multi-generational farm and ranch operations,” the letter states.

A second letter, to House and Senate Agricultural Appropriations Subcommittees, encourages support of new programs to help U.S. military veterans transition into agriculture.

“The 2014 Farm Bill establishes a Military Veterans Agricultural Liaison, gives veterans much deserved consideration for a number of beneficial programs, and directs funding for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers to include groups helping our  ‘veteran farmers,’” the letter states.  “The President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget includes ’FARM-vets,’ funding for critical research to help better serve this important group of new farmers and ranchers.”

The groups indicate that veterans are looking for work upon returning home and the agricultural community is looking for new farmers and urge Congress to fully fund the new programs in the Fiscal Year 2015 Agricultural Appropriations bill.

The third letter, to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Michael Huerta, asks that the FAA complete rulemaking on a regulatory framework for small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The letter, signed by groups as diverse as aviation, agriculture, media and realtors’ trade associations, asks the FAA to use all available means to allow for some limited UAS operations before the small UAS rule is finalized.  “The current regulatory void has left American entrepreneurs and others either sitting on the sidelines or operating in the absence of appropriate safety guidelines. The recreational community has proven that community-based safety programming is effective in managing this level of activity, and we highly encourage the FAA to allow similar programming to be used to allow the small UAS industry to establish appropriate standards for safe operation. Doing so will allow a portion of the promising commercial sector to begin operating safely and responsibly in the national airspace,” the letter reads. “The technology is advancing faster than the regulations to govern it.”