BILLINGS — Lane Nordlund has the Montana Ag Network report for Wednesday, February 19, 2020:
#1: The Montana Farm Bureau Federation is hosting the Victory Montana Campaign Management Seminar March 2-3 in Helena at the Delta Colonial Inn.
MFBF State Affairs Director Rachel Cone said the seminar is for anyone that is running or interested in running for public office.
“Attendees will learn everything from getting creating a budget for the campaign, setting up different campaign strategies and then all the way up to getting elected,” said Cone. “We go through all that in detail through a variety of different session over the two days. We will practice everything from interviewing, to dealing with the people that you're representing and all of the above.”
The strategy session covers everything from selecting a campaign theme and platform. To setting up campaign structure, managing money and winning.
“Running for office can be a scary thing,” Cone said. “I think this campaign school provides a lot. From outlining the logistics and all the big parts to those smaller parts. We want help people gain that confidence they need to run for office and get those boots under the tables in Helena.”
Space is limited to the first 30 participants. With just a few slots available, Farm Bureau is extending is registration deadline. For more information, click here to visit the MFBF website.
#2: The American Lamb Board (ALB) is seeking three candidates to represent the United States in the Young Guns Leadership Program at LambEx in Australia.
The program is intended to broaden the understanding of new innovation and technologies in sheep production practices. Australia, United States and New Zealand, will each select up to three producers between the ages of 22 and 40 years of age who exhibit leadership potential to participate in the forum. All travel expenses will be paid for.
Applicants must complete the written application that is due by Feb. 28. For more visit AmericanLamb.com.
#3: It’s been two years since the discovery of the “grain glitch” in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. A DTN report says farmer cooperatives are still asking Treasury Department officials to change provisions of Section 199A back to the way the tax deduction worked before the 2017 tax law was passed.
The tax quirk that looked like a windfall for farmers who did business with cooperatives might now increase the taxes for at least some of those farmers who are patrons of more diverse cooperatives. The grain glitch generated enough attention that Congress passed legislation to rework the tax deduction in a federal spending bill within a few months.
Last summer, the Treasury Department began proposing that Section 199 deductions only apply to “patronage income.” That would eliminate cooperatives’ ability to combine “non-patronage income” as part of the deduction calculation. That exclusion of non-patronage income was never part of the original Section 199 regulations.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) seeks public comments on its interim rule for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which helps partners develop and implement unique conservation solutions that engage farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
The rule – now available on the Federal Register – takes effect on publication and includes changes to the program prescribed by the 2018 Farm Bill. Comments can be made on the NRCS website.
