Farm Bureau happy with new laws

(Hershey) -- A farming advocacy group says a couple changes to state laws will help farmers' bottom line.

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is cheering the bill that eliminates the commonwealth's 4.5 percent inheritance tax.

Bureau President Carl Shaffer says farm families struggling to pay the taxes would sometimes sell off parcels of land.

Over time, he says, that could lead to smaller farms and less food.

"It is really key to the future of not only agriculture, but the future for the consumer of having a reliable food supply moving on into the year 2050, when everyone is anticipating the world population going to be double," Shaffer says.

He also says updates to the state vehicle code will make farming easier.

The changes allow for vehicles up to 16 feet wide, like farm equipment, to travel on state roads.

It's also now leagal to drive such larger vehicles up to 50 miles on the open road - twice the distance of the old code.