Agribusiness Update for Friday 02/28/14

Some say Congress won't actually get around to working on tax reform until 2017 - but House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp has unveiled a new tax reform proposal. The proposal calls for lowering income tax rates for most Americans and businesses - but also reduces the value of or eliminating entirely key tax breaks. Among other things - the proposal would reduce the number of individual income tax brackets from seven to three and raise the standard deduction to 11-thousand for individuals and 22-thousand for couples.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack announced 76 grants totaling more than 35-million dollars Wednesday. USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture grants will support research, teaching and Extension activities at 1890 Historically Black Land-Grant Colleges and Universities. He says the competitively-awarded grants support the continued leadership of 1890 institutions in the field of agriculture, the environment and public health. The Grants Program is intended to support agricultural science programs while also strengthening the linkages among the 1890 universities, other colleges and universities, USDA and private industry.

That's today's Agribusiness Update from the Ag Information Network.