Rollins defends tax policies, calls for domestic fertilizer

(The Center Square) - Brooke Rollins, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, on Thursday defended tax policies to support farmers and called for more domestic manufacturing of fertilizer amid the conflict with Iran.

At a hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Rollins estimated more than two million family farms have been saved through the exemption of federal estate taxes. The Working Families Tax Cuts Act doubled the exemption for estate taxes to $15 million for individuals and $30 million for married couples, allowing farms to avoid estate taxes over certain thresholds.