The American Farm Bureau Federation says a new three-percent withholding tax on government payments for goods and services has the potential to reduce the effectiveness of USDA programs that are designed to protect and improve the environment. AFBF says it would oppose the new withholding tax – which is slated to begin in 2013. The organization says the tax has the potential to create cash-flow problems for farmers and ranchers. Reducing farm revenue by three-percent of government safety net payments – AFBF says – will make it harder for farmers to purchase supplies and equipment they need to do their jobs.

Another problem AFBF says potentially could come from the tax is the availability and affordability of health care in rural America. Even though nearly 25-percent of the population lives in rural areas – AFBF notes only 10-percent of physicians practice in rural America – and there are far fewer specialists. Twenty-three-percent of rural Americans are on Medicare – and AFBF says withholding three-percent of Medicare payments will make it harder to maintain rural health facilities and more difficult to attract doctors to rural areas.