Providing Tax Incentives to Secure Agricultural Facilities

• Agricultural businesses involved with the use and manufacture of chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers are high-risk targets for terrorist attack and criminal activity.

• Use of pesticides and fertilizers are critical to the protection of our nation's food supply and should not be vulnerable to theft and illegal use by drug dealers, terrorists, and other violent criminals.

• The Agricultural Business Security Tax Credit Act of 2007 (S.544/H.R. 1814), introduced by Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ben Nelson (D-NE); and Rep. Ron Lewis (R-KY) would provide financial resources for agribusinesses to address their unique security concerns

• This bill would strengthen security at agriculture chemical and pesticide facilities by providing certain agribusinesses with a 30 percent tax credit, up to $100,000 per facility, for the purchase of state-of-the-art security measures, such as the installation of access control, security camera, and intrusion detection systems.

• Adopted as part of the Senate passed version of H.R. 2419, the "Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007," the Agriculture Business Security Tax Credit must be reconciled with competing legislation passed by the House of Representatives.

• SIA supports efforts by the Agribusiness Security Coalition in support of this provision. The Coalition represents a significant number of agribusiness organizations including the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), the New York State Agri-Business Association, The Fertilizer Institute, and CropLife America.

• According to the ARA, "A security tax credit would allow eligible agricultural businesses to use their own financial resources to take necessary steps installing state of the art security measures that better protect the U.S. agriculture and food system and the American public from the potential threat of terrorism or other illegal activities."