Dave Maples: Thoughts from Dave

Dave Maples Executive Vice President

The General Assembly recently passed language in House Bill 8 that will exempt drugs and over-the-counter drugs purchased by a person regularly engaged in the business of farming from sales and use tax. Governor Beshear vetoed the entire bill but the General Assembly overrode the veto. The exemption will not take effect until January 1, 2023. The passage of the bill was somewhat anticlimactic because it was an item in the conference committee. KCA has worked on this issue for many years. Over the years we might get in through the House and Senate but it would die before it got to the Governor. One session we got it through both Chambers and then Governor Matt Bevins vetoed it. We were well on our way again in 2020, then the pandemic hit and we lost momentum. However, Senator Givens did not forget and with his no drama way of doing business he got the job done. Thank you, Senator Givens. This is one example of how working with your trade association and several individual Kentucky cattlemen and business owners can get the job done. Another comment would be to never give up. It is all about timing. KCA has worked on this issue for well over 10 years. I never really understood why this was such a hard ask. Kentucky was one of only four states that charged sales taxes on animal health products. All of the surrounding states were exempt from sale taxes, so many Kentucky producers purchased their vaccines in either Indiana, Ohio or Tennessee for the most part. I had a larger farmer who lived close to the Tennessee state line tell me one time that I didn’t need to be spending my time on this issue because he didn’t pay those taxes anyway (because he bought them in Tennessee). I hope this will entice some of the animal heath distributors to locate in Kentucky. I also hope that you will appreciate the work and effort that KCA put into this effort. On another note, I have spent a good bit of time writing recommendation letters for Kentucky meat processors. President Biden announced a billion-dollar incentive through the Meat and Poultry Expansion Program for small and regional processors. If you think this is easy money and that the grant process is easy, you better think again because it is not. Most of these companies have had to hire consultants and grant writers for a very difficult process that they have a high probability of not receiving any funding. I want to commend these companies for making the effort and not sitting back and waiting. I can see the results of the investments that the Governor's office and the Kentucky Office of Ag Policy has made in local meat processing. Over the last month most of the calls that I have received have been about meat processing or from meat processors. To be really honest if you would have asked me 2 years ago if we would have a processor in the state processing over 175 head of cattle a day, I would have had doubts. Not only do we have that processor, we have another that is doing over 75 head per day. I see several others in expansion mode and if we are lucky enough to receive some of these federal funds you might see a real explosion in regional and local processing.

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