Friday, September 8, 2006
CONTACT: Barry E. Piatt
or Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551
ADMINISTRATION AGREES TO DORGAN-CONRAD REQUEST TO EXTEND TAX RELIEF TO HELP DROUGHT-STRICKEN RANCHERS
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) announced Friday the Administration has agreed to their request to extend a tax break that will help ranchers who have been forced to sell their herds because of drought.
Dorgan and Conrad joined Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) and a bipartisan group of farm-state lawmakers last month in calling on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to extend a tax deferment period for weather-related sales of livestock.
Paulson said today he would approve the extension, which will help ranchers who have been forced to sell portions of their herds since 2002 because of a severe drought. Because drought conditions have persisted, ranchers have not been able to replenish their herds. The deferment extension will allow these ranchers to avoid paying a capital gains tax on the sale of their cattle at a time when they are struggling to recover from severe drought, Dorgan and Conrad said. As a result, eligible ranchers will be able to avoid being subjected to a capital gains tax by replacing livestock before the end of their first tax year following a drought-free year in the region.
“The announcement that the Administration has agreed to extend this deferment is good news for ranchers who are suffering from a severe drought,” Dorgan said. “Many ranchers are struggling to rebuild the herds they were forced to sell in previous drought years, and this year’s dry conditions have not helped matters. It would make no sense to penalize them as they try to rebuild their businesses.”
"We are facing a drought of historic proportions in North Dakota. With rainfall less than 20 percent of normal in parts of our state, and temperatures more than 90 degrees on at least 23 days in July, many ranchers face dramatic losses - losses that may force many off the land," Senator Conrad said. "This tax break will help those ranchers while we continue to work on other forms of disaster assistance that will keep them in business."
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