Keith Evans' letter on the inheritance tax, "Tweak, Don't Kill, The Estate Tax," (May 5 BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly) is right on. I've argued for years that NCBA is on the wrong side of this issue. Instead of fighting for abolition of the inheritance tax, NCBA would be light years ahead had it been working to change the law so it worked better for landowners.

The other issue at stake, and one mostly overlooked, is many people refuse to plan for the future. Those who don't plan get stuck with huge tax bills; instead of blaming themselves, they blame the system. I can attest to the fact that planning works and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. Ag must quit compensating for those who are just plain bad businessmen.

Evans' points are exactly correct. If the richest man in the world -- Warren Buffet -- thinks the tax is a good idea, we should maybe analyze why. -- Brent Langman Illinois cattleman