A delegation of leaders, government affairs staff and members from the North American Equipment Dealers Assn. (NAEDA) traveled to Washington, D.C. April 8-9 for its annual Capitol Hill Fly-In. Comprised of 30 dealers from 18 states, representing over 100 business locations, the coalition met with 29 legislators and key staff to deliver a unified message on the key priorities for the association — Farm Bill, Taxes, Tariffs, Workforce and Right to Repair chief among them.

To listen, learn and report on industry advocacy efforts, Farm Equipment joined the group in Washington D.C. and discussed a range of priority issues with key government affairs staff based in D.C., as well as Kim Rominger, NAEDA’s CEO, who says this year they focused on specific messaging by members and holding meetings with key committee members, including Agriculture, Commerce and Finance.

In a summary update to Farm Equipment on April 23, Kipp McGuire, NAEDA director of government affairs noted that just days after the D.C. Fly-in, the House passed the Senate’s Budget Resolution on April 10, which allows the individual committees to begin its work on the actual budget. Both chambers went on a 2-week recess 2 days later, from which they have just returned. 

McGuire says the team and members overwhelmingly heard that reconciliation and the budget are the primary focus at present. As it is, the Farm Bill and tax provisions won’t be taken up in earnest without that in place.

“While the policy process is working, NAEDA plans to continue to make sure legislators keep in mind the magnitude of these issues on our members and their customers,” says McGuire. “NAEDA’s government affairs team continues its mission to pursue positive public policy outcomes for successful dealers. We share this information every chance we get to ensure elected officials at all levels understand what their policy decisions mean for equipment dealers, their businesses, and their customers.” 

Necessity of a Fresh Farm Bill

The Farm Bill was the first of 5 policy priorities presented during the Capitol Hill visitPortions of the document shared with legislators and members follow. 

“Congress must pass a modernized farm bill to fully protect our food, land and livelihoods. Our equipment dealers and their customers rely on a robust farm bill that prioritizes risk management tools and funding for both federal crop insurance and commodity programs."

Taxes Top the Priority List

NAEDA provided summary statements and offered specific guidance on messaging regarding significant tax-related action items for elected officials to consider: 

“The impending fiscal cliff created by the expiration of Tax Cuts & Jobs Act (TCJA) provisions poses significant challenges for equipment dealers. These are particularly pronounced for those involved in agriculture as inflationary pressures, high interest rates and depressed commodity prices have created market realities that are straining farm finances. NAEDA strongly supports extending TCJA provisions that allow our members to retain employees and invest in their businesses to serve their customers.”

• Floorplan Interest Deduction: NAEDA’s top tax priority is protecting this crucial deduction for equipment dealers. Enacted in the TCJA, this deduction recognizes that equipment dealers carry a significant amount of business interest connected to the floorplanning of their wholegoods inventory, recognizes the unique business model of equipment dealers and should remain permanent.
• Sec. 179 Expensing: The TCJA made the deduction for purchases of business equipment permanent. This tax deduction is an important tax planning tool and incentive for businesses to invest in their operations. As such, NAEDA supports keeping Sec. 179 expensing permanent.
• 199A Deduction: NAEDA supports making the 199A deduction permanent to provide certainty and ensure pass-through entities remain competitive. Without this change, many of our dealers will face tax rates up to 16 percentage points higher than publicly traded counterparts. That lack of parity would jeopardize high paying rural jobs and investment in rural communities across America.
• Bonus Depreciation: NAEDA supports reviving 100% bonus depreciation. The phase-out of this important investment incentive will compound declining equipment sales and negatively affect the purchasing behavior of our customers.

Tariff Impact TBD

As the NAEDA contingent converged on Capitol Hill in early April, the Trump Administration was in the midst of multiple changes in strategy and messaging, announcing on April 9 a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs announced a week earlier. The team and members maintained a focus on messaging that reinforced the long-term impacts. Tariffs, as covered in Farm Equipment’s ongoing coverage, continue to be a focal point for NAEDA members and the government affairs team whose Policy Initiative messaging has remained the same.

“As tariffs become an economic lever used more by the administration to achieve other policy priorities, it is important that agriculture not take the brunt of the impact from import duties and retaliatory tariffs. Previous experience shows that in response to tariffs imposed on other countries, retaliatory tariffs target U.S. agricultural exports ($27 billion decline in 2018-19). Tariffs that increase the cost of wholegoods and parts for equipment combined with retaliatory tariffs that decrease agricultural exports and depress commodity prices further threatens North American food security and the viability of U.S. farms and ranches.”

• Market Facilitation Program: NAEDA supports a robust program to fully compensate producers for lost markets and decreased commodity prices caused by retaliatory tariffs. Given the downturn in the ag sector, these pricing supports should be comprehensive and rapidly deployed to provide producers with certainty.
• USMCA Trade Agreement: NAEDA supports renewing this agreement and removal of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers. It notes that accelerating review and renewal of the trade pact before 2026 would expedite the realization of more than $2 billion in expected increases of agricultural exports for U.S. producers.

Addressing Workforce Woes

Workforce development is another of NAEDA’s top issues that it is  continuously advocating for with elected officials on the national, state and regional levels. NAEDA offered members the following information to share with their elected officials to help address these challenges.

"The average farm equipment dealer would hire 5 additional technicians today, with a cumulative shortfall of technicians across the country numbering in the thousands. This gap continues to widen despite an industry leading model where dealers typically cover tuition for a 2-year diesel technician program with a guaranteed high-wage job upon completion.”

On Expansion of H-2A, it writes: NAEDA supports expanding the H-2A program to allow equipment dealers the ability to recruit foreign labor for chronically unfilled equipment technician positions. The program is designed with the intent to provide temporary agricultural labor or services to benefit producers. The lack of technicians servicing farm equipment has reached a critical point that is creating significant downtime for farmers and ranchers during harvest and planting periods.

Right to Repair Remains Key Issue

On the Right to Repair issue, NAEDA’s government affairs team shared the main messaging points with which they and members are approaching elected officials, including key committees.

“Our industry is a leading example of one that supports customer self-repair. Equipment manufacturers and dealers are committed to providing access to and widespread availability of parts, tools, documentation and diagnostic capabilities to owners and independent repair shops.” 

Two primary areas where NAEDA is working on behalf of equipment dealers were presented, including the fact that the major stakeholders on this issue have agreed to Memorandums of Understanding. They feel it is vital to remind legislators that the MOUs between John Deere, CNHI, Kubota, AGCO, Claas and the American Farm Bureau Federation are a private sector solution that formalizes the commitment to supporting customer repair and makes legislation unnecessary for our industry.

With regard to Right to Repair legislation, NAEDA opposes unnecessary federal legislation. The policy statement further adds “It supports the MOU private sector solution that has proven it addresses the needs of all stakeholders while avoiding unintentional consequences. The Right to Repair issue is not about access and availability and is more attributable to workforce shortages creating downtime for producers. NAEDA urges Congress to focus on solutions that allow dealers to expand their workforce and increase investment in their businesses to support customers.”