Facts, Myths and Policy Directions for Ag

Facts, Myths and Policy Directions for Ag
Associate Professor and Extension Policy Specialist
Cars driving through ag land into rural town.

USDA/Flickr.

For much of the year, there had been substantial discussion and speculation about major policy initiatives being pushed through trillion-dollar-plus infrastructure bills.

The first included more than $1 trillion in physical infrastructure investments. Commonly called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF), the legislation committed more than $1 trillion in federal spending on hard or physical infrastructure, although a large part of the bill was reauthorization of existing transportation legislation. The rest of the bill added a reported $550 billion in new spending, although much of it also came from unspent COVID-19 relief funding.

The second package was the much broader package on soft or human infrastructure of up to $3.5 trillion in spending called the Build Back Better Act (BBBA). It includes various policy proposals and program expansions funded in large part by substantial tax changes.

During the debate over the two bills, much of the focus from agricultural interests has been on new investments in broadband deployment proposed in BIF, along with two key elements of BBBA — conservation spending and tax changes. For all three of these issues, there are substantial questions with only some answers, leaving a great deal of uncertainty as to policy and program directions.

Full Article on Nebraska Farmer