Issues That Matter
Michigan Farm Bureau’s positions and actions are based on organizational policies adopted by members annually at the local, state and national levels. Every member has an opportunity to participate and voice concerns about issues important to Michigan’s food and agriculture industry.
Following are several briefs to help you become familiar with our current areas of focus.
State Issues
Federal Issues
Farm Bill
In partnership with the American Farm Bureau Federation, we continue to advocate for Congress to pass a modernized farm bill, and in a bipartisan fashion to give farmers the long-term certainty needed to make business decisions. Our priorities for Michigan include increasing baseline funding for farm programs, maintaining a unified bill that keeps the farm and nutrition titles together, prioritizing risk management tools, supporting conservation programs that benefit working lands, and ensuring adequate USDA staffing and technical assistance.
Agricultural Workforce
We support legislative reform that provides short- and long-term access to a legal and stable agricultural workforce. Reform must address a solution for the current workforce and an updated guestworker program that will provide a future flow of agricultural workers for seasonal and year-round positions.
Trade
Farm Bureau continuously works to defend and expand trade opportunities for Michigan agriculture. We advocate for fair and open trade and support initiatives that: open new markets or expand existing ones, assist producers impacted by retaliatory tariffs, eliminate non-tariff trade barriers, protect farmers from unfair trade practices and more.
Regulatory Reform
We support rulemaking process reforms to ensure that federal regulations are supported by science and created transparently, while identifying opportunities that improve farmers’ ability to remain productive and competitive.
Tax Reform
We support a tax code that provides certainty and recognizes farmers’ unique financial challenges as they work to provide a secure food supply for our state and nation. Priorities include an unlimited stepped-up basis for farm businesses, permanent elimination of estate taxes, reducing the capital gains tax rate and indexing assets for inflation, and exclusion of capital gains at death, particularly for agricultural land that remains in production, for transfers of farm business assets between family members, for farmland preservation easements and development rights, and for land taken by eminent domain.