It’s been nearly a decade since Mike Johanns retired from politics. That doesn’t mean he’s detached from policy. The former Secretary of Agriculture says his life’s love and passion has always been for agriculture.

That’s probably not surprising since he grew up on a Nebraska farm. He also dedicated much of his public service career to addressing ag issues. That included time on the Senate Agriculture Committee working on a new farm bill in the early 2010s. Like nearly everyone else, he’s not optimistic about a new farm bill happening this late into an election year.

“I’d bet on an extension before I’d bet on negotiating leading to a new farm bill,” he says.

Johanns served as Secretary of Agriculture during George W. Bush’s second term. Before that he was twice elected Governor of Nebraska, the first Republican to win the statehouse in more than 40 years.

He left politics in 2015 after serving one term in the Senate. These days, he’s reaching out to farmers to tell them how a federal research and development tax credit can help their operations.

Those tax credits were first championed by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. They were part of a bipartisan effort to keep manufacturing jobs from going overseas. Over the years, subsequent administrations and congressional lawmakers have expanded the tax credits making more people in different industries eligible.

According to Johanns, many farmers and ranchers are doing things every day that may qualify for a research and development tax credit.

“This is no longer about white coats and laboratories,” he says. “This really is about everyday things farmers and ranchers do to improve their process, to improve their herd, to improve their feed rations and to improve the productivity of their land.”

Now granted, Johanns has an incentive to tout the research and development tax credit. He currently serves as the chairman of agriculture for Alliant Group. That company provides tax and consulting services for small and midsized businesses. Its roster includes an impressive collection of former lawmakers and business executives. Still, Johanns says it’s the ability to help farmers that motivates him.

“This is a great opportunity for folks I’ve worked with for many decades in agriculture,” he says.

For example, he says if a corn or soybean farmer decides to do different things with tillage or experiment with seed varieties, that farmer could be eligible for an R&D tax credit. Not only that, if the farmer can show they’ve been implementing practices for a while, they may even be able to have their previous tax returns amended. This can bring a welcome, unexpected infusion of cash

A recent court case ruled that the cost of seed a farmer put into crops attempting to increase productivity qualified for an R&D tax credit.