My advice to the current Marshall County Board of Supervisors (all Republicans): Don’t even think about giving a tax break to any business at this time. When other items in the budget have been squeezed to the limit and no one is brave enough to raise taxes, tax breaks for businesses that don’t hire a lot of people should be the last thought. The Heartland Cooperative project for grain storage in Pickering is already underway–obviously the tax abatement is not even necessary–it would just be frosting on the cake at the expense of other taxpayers. What’s more, there may not even be a market for the grain after Trump’s tariffs. Supervisors should use their platform to improve food security by promoting organic crop production, local farmer’s markets and sustainable agriculture rather than wasting money on corn and soy infrastructure that feeds into factory farms.