I have noticed that when my pastor wants to make an important theological point to the men in the congregation he uses a sports analogy. This is because we guys can understand complex ideas when they are put in sports terms.

For the most part we understand sports. We know the purpose of the game and how various terms and concepts relate to the overall goal - which is to win. If all things could be as straightforward as sports, the world would be a much simpler place. Alas it is not, and things like politics, taxes, religion, USDA farm programs, nutrition labels, and DVD instruction manuals are complicated beyond the point of human comprehension.

In an effort to simplify the Indiana property tax reform issue, Indiana Farm Bureau created a sports analogy to help both farmers and legislators understand what was going on.
They called it Game Plan ’09.

The concept must have worked because it drew an overflow crowd of farmers to Indianapolis on a cold and snowy day in January. Either that or the 30 percent increase in tax bills stirred the passion of farmland owners to get this mess straightened out.

How we got into this mess is that the Indiana General Assembly did an “end run” around farmers last year. Hoosier farmers had been calling for property fax reform for years. For the most part, these calls fell on deaf ears.

It was only when a few homeowners in Indianapolis saw their tax bills double that this became front-page news. The over-sensational and under-informed Indianapolis media “piled on.” And before you knew it, tax reform was speeding downfield faster than Dallas Clark. The result was homeowners got their tax break and farmers did not.

After getting “sacked” with higher tax bills this year, farmers are likely to see farmland tax bills go up again next year even as land values and commodity prices and going down.

So the farmers came to town to “huddle” with each other and come up with a “game plan” to take to the Statehouse. Like any good game plan, this one had both offensive and defensive strategies included.

On the issue of assessment rate, farmers are on the offensive; but, on the question of a constitutional amendment, they are on the defensive.

Part of the Governor’s plan, approved last year, was to make the tax reform permanent by making it an amendment to the State Constitution.

Here Hoosier farmers are throwing the “red flag” and calling for a “review of the play.”

To permanently discriminate against one class of landowners somehow does not seem fair. Farmers want a review of this play by postponing a vote for at least a year.

As the Indianapolis Colts discovered in San Diego, a big name quarterback alone can not win the game. It takes a team effort.
Indiana farmers must take the field and play together as a team. It will take everyone “running their routes” and “making the plays” in order to win this one.

Consider this your “pregame pep talk” So, as the coach would say, “Get out there and really kick some &@%.”

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments Gary Truitt may write to him in care of this publication.