North Dakota farmers are facing a tax increase this year, but many consider it well worth the cost. The state legislature is considering an increase in the "checkoff" money paid on sales of crops, which will go toward agricultural research. With federal money for agricultural research harder to find in the current economy, farmers say that paying for research is a worthwhile investment.
Rep. Paul Mueller, the bills' sponsor and a farmer, says the higher taxes will be better for his wallet in the long run: "I know what a better strain of barley does -- it adds 5 bushels to my yield. I know what a better strain of wheat does. I don't have fusarium head blight (scab disease)." Blake Nicholson of The Associated Press notes that "scab disease devastated wheat crops in North Dakota in the 1990s, costing farmers an estimated $2.6 billion in lost crops between 1991 and 1997." (Read more)
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