House Committee Approves Bill to Help Improve Irrigation

Jun 26, 2018

A bill recently approved by the House Ways and Means Committee would help farmers and ranchers more efficiently operate mutual ditch, irrigation and water companies, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The Water and Agriculture Tax Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 519) would multiply the sources from which mutual ditch, irrigation and water companies can obtain capital to expand and improve their water systems. Current law requires mutual ditch, irrigation and water companies’ capital improvements be 85 percent shareholder financed, which can be limiting.

“Mutual ditch, irrigation and water companies are important to agriculture because they allow farmers, ranchers and others to form collaborative businesses to install and maintain vital infrastructure,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a letter to the bill’s author, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.). “The bill multiplies sources from which mutual ditch, irrigation and water companies can obtain capital to expand and improve their water systems.”

Specifically, the legislation would allow mutual water and storage delivery companies to retain their nonprofit status even if they receive more than 15 percent of their revenue from non-member sources.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.