December 17, 2021
Former House Ag Committee Chair Collin Peterson is
our other choice for ag person of the year. Why? By far the
biggest policy threat to ag was the potential elimination of
stepped-up basis. Peterson couldn’t directly lobby but he
did pick up the pen and articulate to readers, including
lawmakers, how seriously damaging this would be. His opeds got a lot of traction. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) was a key
GOP point man on the issue and Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.)
eventually weighed in. But Collin got the ball rolling.
Peterson also forcefully argued that Democrats should not
mandate greenhouse gas or methane emission reductions
through Clean Air Act or new legislation, including the
social spending/Build Back Better (BBB) Act. He stated that it
would set back efforts by decades. And Democrats listened.