One Voice for the Family Ranch
In the southern Nebraska Sandhills near Oshkosh, Van Newkirk Herefords has stood the test of time. Established in 1892, the family-run ranch raises purebred Hereford bulls and females, selling genetics across the country.
​
For Joe and Cyndi Van Newkirk, consistency and customer service are what sets their program apart.
“We’ve focused very much on raising not one home run, but 250 home-run bulls,” Joe says. “Our customers are the secret to everything. We have the best customers in the world.”
As a mother and grandmother, Cyndi believes preserving family farms and ranches is essential to ensuring a safe, reliable food supply. She and Joe have two children actively managing the ranch today, and seven grandchildren growing up immersed in the lifestyle.
“It’s a way of life that we love,” she says. “We love it for our grandchildren…the values that we’re teaching them, as far as love of your community, love of your neighbor, and work ethic. There’s something to be said about being raised on a family ranch.”
Cyndi is also concerned about the threat estate taxes poses to generational ranching.
“We need young producers to be able to afford to keep raising cattle,” she adds.
With key tax provisions set to expire this year, Cyndi joined other livestock producers at the Common Ground Summit in April to speak up for agriculture. The event brought together seedstock producers, feeders, marketers, allied industry and more to align on policy priorities.
“There was such a good variety of expertise in the room and the level of passion for quality food and for the family ranch to survive,” she says.
The coalition’s advocacy helped deliver a significant win with the passage of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” signed into law by President Donald J. Trump on July 4. The bill made permanent several key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including:
-
Raising the federal estate tax exemption to $15 million per individual ($30 million per couple), indexed for inflation
-
Restoring 100% bonus depreciation under Section 168
-
Permanently lowering individual tax rates and expanding brackets
-
Preserving the step-up in basis under §1014 to avoid excessive capital gains
-
Increasing Section 179 expensing limits from $1 million to $2.5 million
-
Making the §199A qualified business income deduction permanent for ag producers and co-ops
​
While a positive step, Cyndi emphasizes that the ultimate goal is to eliminate the estate tax altogether — a form of double taxation she says threatens the survival of family ranches. She says what agriculture needs is a voice.
“The problem for agriculture is that we’re easy to throw under the bus, and we’re easy [to blame],” she says. “If we can get agriculture all together, have one voice and be able to represent ourselves, I think we could be a strength and we could protect our children and grandchildren’s future.”