A news release yesterday from the Senate Agriculture Committee indicated that, “Today, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and senior Agriculture Committee member U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) raised concerns with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) regarding farm program payments that are made to the estates of deceased farmers.

“‘We must be careful stewards of taxpayer money and work to avoid wasteful payments,’ said the Senators. ‘As we prepare to write the next Farm Bill, we write to request information so we can understand more about USDA payments to an estate after the death of a farmer.’

“Under current law, farmers are required to be ‘actively engaged in farming‘ in order to receive farm program benefits by providing labor or management. USDA recently issued guidance that considers an estate to be actively engaged – and thus eligible for farm payments –for up to two years after the death of a farmer without review. The Government Accountability Office has criticized USDA payments to estates which have allowed some heirs to game the system and evade payment limits by collecting benefits on behalf of the deceased in addition to their own property.”

The Senator’s letter to the Acting Administrator of FSA is available here.

Laura Kusisto reported this week at The Wall Street Journal Online that, “Home prices continued to rise rapidly in the waning days of 2017, but there are early signs that price gains that have well outstripped wages and inflation could begin to ease this year.

“The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which covers the entire nation, rose 6.3% in December, up from a 6.1% year-over-year increase reported in November.

“The 10-city index gained 6% over the year, unchanged from November. The 20-city index gained 6.3%, down slightly from 6.4% the previous month. That was in line with the expectations of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, who expected the 20-city index to rise 6.3% in December.”

The Journal article noted that, “Home price gains accelerated in 2017 compared with 2016, when prices grew more in the 5% range. Nonetheless, the pace of both new and existing home sales have slowed in recent months, which could ultimately put pressure on sellers to lower prices, especially as interest rates are beginning to rise.

“‘It is too early to tell if the housing recovery is slowing. If it is, some moderation in price gains could be seen later this year,’ said David Blitzer, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“Markets that are seeing the steepest increases remain concentrated in the West. Seattle reported the largest annual gain, at 12.7%, followed by Las Vegas at 11.1%. San Francisco, which had seen price increases slow until recently, reported the third-strongest gain, at 9.2%.”

C.J. Hughes reported yesterday at The New York Times Online that, “As Equilibrium Brewery opened for business here [Middletown, N.Y.] on a recent Saturday morning, fans were already lined up outside for a fresh batch of its hazy-colored ales.

“The travelers, who came from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, snapped up as many cans and bottles as they could buy, at $16 a four-pack. After a sip or two by tailgates, some headed out in search of a meal, their tourist dollars funneled into a downtown betting on a rebound.

“‘We are having an impact on the community, for sure,’ said Ricardo Petroni, a co-owner of Equilibrium, which opened in 2016 in a former meatpacking plant that had been seized over nonpayment of taxes. ‘When we moved here, you could see old scars of bad times,’ Mr. Petroni added, ‘but you can tell that now, new things are flourishing.'”

The Times article noted that, “Across the country, in once-bustling manufacturing centers, breweries are giving new fizz to sleepy commercial districts. If alcohol-based businesses were blamed for a breakdown of society in the Prohibition era and beyond, breweries are now being seen as a force for good.

Reuters writer Tom Polansek reported yesterday that, “A federal judge has temporarily blocked California’s plans to require cancer warnings on products containing the popular weed killer glyphosate, in a win for manufacturer Monsanto Co.

“U.S. District Judge William Shubb said the warnings would be misleading because glyphosate is not known to cause cancer, according to court documents filed on Monday in California. He still allowed the state to keep glyphosate on a list of cancer-causing products.

“‘Given the heavy weight of evidence in the record that glyphosate is not in fact known to cause cancer, the required warning is factually inaccurate and controversial,’ Shubb wrote.”

Mr. Polansek explained that, “The judge’s decision is important for Monsanto because warnings could discourage use of glyphosate, which is widely used by farmers on genetically engineered crops and by consumers on lawns. The company’s agricultural productivity segment, which includes glyphosate, had net sales of $3.7 billion in fiscal-year 2017.

“Monsanto, which is being acquired by Bayer AG, and U.S. farm groups sued California in November to stop the warnings.”

Sharon Nunn reported yesterday at The Wall Street Journal Online that, “Two months of steep declines in sales of new homes across the U.S. haven’t persuaded many economists that the housing market is turning lower.

“Purchases of newly built single-family homes—a relatively narrow slice of all U.S. home sales—fell 7.8% in January after dropping 7.6% in December, according to data released Monday by the Commerce Department. Purchases have declined for four of the past six months.

New York Times writer Brian J. O’Connor reported last week that, “Critics of the estate tax like to call the federal levy on assets passed on by the wealthy to their heirs the ‘death tax.’ But the better nickname might be the ‘zombie tax.’

“Despite repeated attempts by conservative lawmakers to kill it — and a 2016 campaign-trail vow by Donald J. Trump that ‘no family will have to pay the death tax’ because ‘we will repeal it’ — the estate tax remains a surprisingly resilient part of the United States tax code.

“The tax law passed by Congress in December certainly keeps it alive — on more generous terms. Instead of taxing any amount above $5.49 million per person at a rate of 40 percent, the new law raises that exemption to $10 million, which, when indexed for inflation, allows individuals to pass on $11.2 million and couples to transfer twice that amount without paying a penny of tax.”

The Times article noted that, “But leaving the estate tax in place means America’s richest families now face the prospect of scurrying to tax lawyers to revise older estate plans, and may need to do so again before the end of 2025. The new exemption is on the books for only eight years, and if Congress doesn’t change the law again, estates could face tax bills after 2026 for moves made under the new, temporary limits.

“‘Some of the wealthier clients are happy’ with the changes, said Brian Jenney, a partner with Kemp Klein in Troy, Mich. ‘But when you tell them it ends in 2025, they’re frustrated because they’re still going to be alive.'”

Last week’s article added that, “Despite these complications, what’s clear is that even though Congress didn’t kill the estate tax, the new limits come close.

“‘The estate tax used to cover a lot more people even in recent decades, up to 2 percent of all estates. Now we’re down to less than one-tenth of 1 percent,’ said Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington. ‘The estate tax is hanging on by a thread.'”

Ruth Simon reported yesterday at The Wall Street Journal Online that, “As business owners pore through the new tax law, many are asking themselves a fundamental question: Will changing how their company is structured cut their tax bills?

“‘This is one of the most pressing issues for taxpayers and business owners,’ said Mark Everson, vice chairman of tax-consulting firm Alliantgroup LP. ‘They are looking carefully now at how they are legally organized.’

“For many entrepreneurs, the big question is whether to operate as a C corporation, which pays its own taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, or as a pass-through company, which pays tax through individual rather than corporate returns. Pass-through businesses include S corporations, sole proprietorships and limited liability companies.”

The Journal article noted that, “The clock is ticking. Many business owners have until March 15 to make an election that would be retroactive to the beginning of 2018.

“The rethinking of corporate structures is one byproduct of the new tax bill, which cuts the corporate tax rate to 21%, down from a top rate of 35%, though owners pay a second tax on profits distributed as dividends.”

A news release yesterday from USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) stated that, “Last year’s hurricanes, wildfires, and droughts, devastated parts of the South, Midwest, Northern Plains, and California, and were a stark reminder that agriculture is an inherently risky business. Federal crop insurance indemnities for these disasters totaled more than $1 billion in 2017.

“The prosperity of the rural economy depends on our farmers and ranchers and their ability to bounce back from adverse conditions,’ said Farm Production and Conservation Acting Deputy Under Secretary Robert Johansson. ‘Crop insurance is central to a strong farm safety net, and producers should talk with their agents to purchase their coverage before the sales closing date.’