LINCOLN, Neb. -- The coronavirus pandemic has caused many Nebraska businesses to shutter, and is forcing others to pause plans for future growth.

Nebraska lawmakers are considering proposed updates to the state's Nebraska Advantage Microenterprise Tax Credit Act, originally passed in 2005.

Johnathan Hladik, policy director at the Center for Rural Affairs, said boosting the credit will help Main Street mom-and-pop businesses recover.

"Every Nebraska community has felt the consequence; every rural community has felt the consequence," Hladik observed. "And the Microenterprise Tax Credit can help these businesses recover by encouraging and facilitating strategic new investments."

Legislative Bill 366 would increase the maximum lifetime credit from $10,000 to $20,000, which Hladik said is necessary to keep up with rising costs.

The measure also would allow family members to use the credit so long as the businesses and ownership are completely separate, and would extend the program through 2024.

Legislative Bill 74, a measure calling for ending the tax credit and moving resources to the Business Innovation Act, was indefinitely postponed by the Revenue Committee.

Microbusinesses make up more than 85% of all businesses in Nebraska.

Andrea McClintic, executive director of the Dawson County Area Economic Development Council, said the tax credit is currently the only option available for small, family-owned businesses that communities depend on.

"Your dentist, and the convenience store, the grocery store, the flower shop; all of those microbusinesses would be able to utilize these funds that don't qualify for the majority of other state or federal programs," McClintic explained.

Legislative Bill 366 also would require more detailed reporting and greater transparency to help lawmakers decide if the program is a good investment.

Hladik noted many lawmakers don't realize the program's impact on job creation in the state.

He pointed to a 2018 Audit which found that the cost per job created through the Microenterprise Tax Credit was between $2,000 and $10,000.

"And that is a tremendous return on investment," Hladik contended. "We've seen programs through the Nebraska Advantage Act, the state's primary business incentive tool, cost about $300,000 per job."

The chair of the Federal Trade Commission will be in rural Iowa this weekend to hear from farmers and other residents about the proposed sale of Iowa Fertilizer to Koch Industries.

The sale is pending FTC approval. Iowa spent $500 million to build an Iowa Fertilizer factory in Weverly to create competition in an already consolidated industry.

Aaron Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, said he plans to tell FTC Chair Linda Khan a sale to Koch Industries would backtrack on any competitive progress the state has made.

"Our concern is that an industry that already lacks competition and has all sorts of monopoly problems would only get worse if this sale is allowed to go through," Lehman explained.

Koch and other corporate ag conglomerates have said consolidating allows them to provide better products to farmers more efficiently. The hearing is set for Saturday on Main Street in Nevada.

In addition to reducing competition for fertilizer, Lehman argued the sale would increase prices for farmers, and ultimately mean higher food prices for Iowans. He wants Khan to hear stories firsthand, from the people on the ground in Nevada.

"We know that we might not be able to have a dialogue with the people who are investigating this situation, because they need to be impartial," Lehman acknowledged. "But our farmers need to tell their story about how the industry is already in a monopoly state."

Some 18 other ag organizations have joined the Iowa Farmers Union calling on the FTC and the Justice Department to investigate the proposed sale.

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops.

Excess nitrates can wind up in ground and surface water, and cause health problems.

Practical Farmers of Iowa is encouraging farmers to find just the right amount of nitrogen they need for their crops - while avoiding applying too much, which the group says is common.

PFI's Field Crops Viability Coordinator - Chelsea Ferrie - said thanks to federal grants and private funding, the group will pay farmers up to $35 for every acre that has a lower than normal yield if they didn't apply enough nitrogen.

"No cost to the farmer, either," said Ferrie. "We're trying to help incentivize them. This is something that farmers want to do - I mean, they want to be good stewards of the land - but also, that they need to have a profitable farm."

The application period for the program is open through the end of April.

To help them reach the right nitrogen balance, Ferrie said PFI will help farmers on the front end of the process, too - so they aren't left guessing how much to apply.

"Talk through what your typical fertilizer plan is, and what your reduction plan would be," said Ferrie. "Then you would implement this year, going into the spring and into the season."

Farmers have relied on nitrogen-based fertilizers for generations - but when applied in excess, nitrates run off into ground and surface water, posing health concerns for animals and people.




get more stories like this via email

Pesticides are still common in agriculture. Organic producers who avoid them have seen ups and downs in pushing for stronger regulations, and they point to a South Dakota example of the harm associated with widespread use among neighboring farms.

At the heart of the regulatory fight is the application of the weed-killing pesticide dicamba, and how it can drift from one farm to another. Last month, a federal court blocked "over the top" spraying of dicamba products, but the EPA followed with an order to allow the spraying of existing supplies.

Glenn Pulse, co-owner of an organic farm in Vermillion, said a 2017 drift incident had a big impact on his operation.

"Our entire farm was covered. We lost a lot of livestock, and thousands of bees were killed," he explained.

It also resulted in health concerns for his family, having to regain his organic farmer certification, and a legal battle over restitution. Groups such as the National Family Farm Coalition have been fighting what they call the deregulation of these chemicals, arguing the drift and runoff effect has damaged millions of crops.

Dicamba-manufacturing companies deny responsibility, instead blaming farmers who apply it for not following guidelines.

The EPA has said there were already millions of gallons of dicamba in circulation prior to the court's ruling, prompting the agency's order. Pulse feels there are farmers who are careful in spraying chemicals, but he wants stronger enforcement against those he describes as "loose cannons."

"The guys that are not following the labels and they're spraying in weather conditions that are not favorable, that is where, I would say, 90% of the problems are happening with drift incidents," Pulse said.

His calls for better responses to these incidents coincide with policy demands to heavily restrict dicamba products. Meanwhile, Rep. Dusty Johnson, D-South Dakota, is the main sponsor of a bill supporters say would assure uniformity in national pesticide labeling under federal law. But opponents argue it would limit longstanding state and local pesticide safety rules.