Comment by 01100011

17 days ago

Isn't most ag in the US just big business at this point?

Sure, there are still some small farms.. but there are also rich folk like the Treasury Secretary who maintain farms for status and financial benefits(farms get all sorts of special treatment for taxes, bankruptcy and inheritance).

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joe_mamba  17 days ago

>farms get all sorts of special treatment for taxes, bankruptcy and inheritance

When I see the amount of exploits the wealthy use to avoid taxes and maximize profits, I realize working a 9-5 job is for fools, considering how much taxes I'm paying on my salary.

  • FireBeyond  16 days ago

    In my town, a capital city, near my home there is a vape lounge. In the parking lot of this lounge are 3 Ford F-350 King Ranch Dual Rear Wheels, adorned with a small amount of decalling on the side for the vape lounge. Each of these trucks goes for about $80K.

    But I suppose they're "company vehicles".

    And this is before we get to the really wealthy.

  • mlrtime  17 days ago

    Agreed, and thats why I continue to vote for representatives who won't raise those taxes.

    The corruption will continue but at least I don't have to continue to feed it.

    • galangalalgol  17 days ago

      They instead lower taxes for every bracket except those making 2x to 5x the poverty level. The lower brackets are a bribe, and the upper brackets and corporate/payroll tax cuts are the purpose. Meanwhile medicaid getting cut just shifts unpaid er visit costs onto that same middle range. The middle gets hollowed out by both parties.

vablings  16 days ago

Pretty much, the whole small farmer trying to make a buck is a huge propaganda push, several companies own millions of acreage.

I feel bad for the smaller farmers for sure but they are vastly overrepresented in the proportional losses because Americans have much less sympathy for large corporations rather than individual business owners. Whats even more frustrating that if you try to read more about this you just get wall after wall about how bill gates owns the most which is patently false

throwaway2037  17 days ago 

    > rich folk like the Treasury Secretary who maintain farms for ... financial benefits

This is incorrect. He divested. Google AI tells me:

    > Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is an investor in North Dakota soybean farmland but has stated he has divested from his holdings to avoid conflicts of interest, addressing criticisms regarding his personal financial stake in agriculture.

  • djeastm  16 days ago

    A bit late, though

    >In truth, Bessent disclosed early in the Trump Administration that he owned several thousand acres of farm land in North Dakota through a limited liability partnership. He was supposed to divest those holdings 90 days after taking office, by April 28.

    >In August, government ethics officials warned in a letter to the Senate Finance Committee that the secretary failed to comply with the rules and needed to sell the land. Bessent's Treasury ethics officials explained that the "assets are illiquid and not readily marketable."

    >The August letter said Bessent "would be recused from particular matters affecting these assets." But that was just weeks before Bessent flew to Malaysia to meet with Chinese counterparts and hash out the framework of a deal that crucially included a commitment to buy American soybeans.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/21/trea...