Estate Tax Destroying Family Farms?

Nope. It's a crock, according to the CBO. In fact, the estate tax has no substantive effect whatsoever. NYTimes (07.10.05), via The Agonist:

"President Bush, the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association have asserted that the estate tax is destroying family farms. None, however, have cited a case of a farm lost to estate taxes, although in June 2001 Mr. Bush said he had talked to such farmers. The number of farms subject to the estate tax, always a minority, has fallen because Mr. Bush persuaded Congress to raise the threshold for estate taxes to $1.5 million, double that for married couples, for last year and this year. With simple planning, couples with children can shield several million more dollars from the tax. In 2000, when the threshold was $675,000, taxes were owed by 1,659 farm estates, the study found. Had the current threshold been in effect, only 300 farms would have owed any tax." Few Wealthy Farmers Owe Estate Taxes, Report Says

"Neil E. Harl, an economics professor at Iowa State University whose expertise in estate tax planning for farmers has made him a household name in the grain belt, said many Americans had a false impression that the estate tax was destroying family farming. He said the Congressional study "'adds to the weight of the evidence that this is a myth that has been well spun.'" "'Farms, in particular,' Mr. Harl said, 'are not in jeopardy because of estate taxes.'" The CBO report also analyzes the effects of the estate tax on small businesses.