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A vote to repeal estate taxes, the passage of the federal budget and the confirmation of an Ohioan to a major trade post each recently had implications for agriculture.

Strong House support to permanently repeal federal estate taxes may be a sign the move has a better chance to win Senate approval, said Adam Sharp, OFBF director of national affairs.

"It was a really good margin of victory," Sharp said of the 272 to 162 vote.

If passed, the estate tax, also known as the death tax, will be phased out after 2010. Similar legislation has twice before passed the House but got stuck in the Senate.

AFBF President Bob Stallman said House support for the bill sends a message that the companion Senate bill deserves equally strong support from both parties.

"Families own 99 percent of our nation’s farms and ranches, and unless the death tax is permanently repealed, many of these family businesses will be endangered as estate settlements require selling land and assets to pay taxes," Stallman said.

Sharp recognized the grassroots efforts of OFBF members to move the bill forward.

"It was key that we had over 1,000 Ohio Farm Bureau members contact their members in the House," he said.

In late April, both the Senate and House approved $3 billion in agriculture spending cuts as part of a five-year federal budget. President Bush had initially proposed cutting agriculture spending by $8 billion over 10 years.

Farmers would see spending reduced by $173 million in fiscal year 2006, and the House and Senate agricultural committees must determine the specific cuts by Sept. 16.

Also late last month, Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, was unanimously confirmed by the Senate as U.S. trade representative.

"I will work hard to make sure Americans are competing on a level playing field and have the opportunity to sell their world class goods and services in overseas markets," Portman said in a statement.

Stallman said it is vital that the interests of U.S. agriculture be represented by a strong leader such as Portman during a critical time in the World Trade Organization negotiations and prior to congressional deliberations on the Central American Free Trade Agreement.

"A chief proponent of expanding export markets for U.S. agriculture, Rep. Portman’s leadership is vital to opening markets and addressing the global trade distortions that face U.S. agriculture," he said.