Majority Leader | Research | The Leader Board | THE NEWSR...Skip to primary navigation Skip to content×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNE×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUFacebookXInstagramFacebookXInstagramVisit Leader Thune's South Dakota Site Here THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUHomeTHE NEWSROOMThe Leader Board02.27.26Republicans’ Landmark Legislation Gives Farmers and Ranchers a Leg UpRepublicans’ Working Families Tax Cuts Law Benefits America’s Agriculture Producers and Lends a Hand to Young Farmers Just Getting Their Start THE WORKING FAMILIES TAX CUTS LAW GIVES AMERICA’S AGRICULTURE PRODUCERS THE CERTAINTY THEY NEED TO KEEP FEEDING AND FUELING AMERICA“[Republicans] made generational investments in rural America through the Working Families Tax Cuts, signed into law last summer. This landmark legislation answered the calls of Arkansas farmers, delivering a stronger farm safety net by increasing reference prices and payment limits to ensure the program better reflects today’s economic realities.” – Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.)“Farmers have faced increased financial pressure in recent years because of stagnant reference prices, as well as high inflation and rising input costs. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, net farm income declined from $228.4 billion in 2022 to $163.1 billion in 2024.” (Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Boozman says One Big, Beautiful Bill Act offers help for farmers – 8/18/25)Economists at the American Farm Bureau note that the Working Families Tax Cuts law “strengthens the farm safety net and offers longer-term certainty for farmers and ranchers navigating rising input costs, volatile markets and weather uncertainty.” (Farm Bureau: One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Final Agricultural Provisions – 7/17/25)Republicans’ Working Families Tax Cuts law:“[Grants] permanency to numerous tax provisions important to families and farms in Title XI, Part 1, preventing their tax rates from increasing if they had been left to expire at the end of 2025.”Makes permanent the 199A small business tax deduction, which “lowers the share of farming profits spent on taxes and is a big win for small businesses nationwide that compete alongside corporations with lower tax rates.”Permanently extends the $15 million individual death tax exemption, helping to “ensure more family farms can transition smoothly to the next generation without being forced to sell off land or assets to pay the IRS.” (Farm Bureau: One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Final Agricultural Provisions – 7/17/25)Institutes permanent 100 percent bonus depreciation, an “effective way to encourage new investment. By allowing businesses to fully deduct the cost of new investment against their taxable income, 100 percent bonus depreciation eliminates the tax on what are called ‘marginal’ investments.” (American Enterprise Institute: Senator Warren Is Wrong About Bonus Depreciation – 10/6/25)THE WORKING FAMILIES TAX CUTS LAW STRENGTHENED THE FARM SAFETY NET BY INCREASING CROP INSURANCE PREMIUM SUPPORT FOR BEGINNING FARMERS AND RANCHERS“We also made investments in American agriculture, like increasing reference prices, bolstering the farm safety net, and improving disaster programs for farmers and ranchers, to name a few.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)“Crop insurance remains a cornerstone of the farm safety net, and the bill makes several significant updates to strengthen and modernize the program through 2031.” (Farm Bureau: One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Final Agricultural Provisions – 7/17/25)The Working Families Tax Cuts law “increases crop insurance premium support for beginning farmers and ranchers by expanding the definition from five to 10 years of experience, enabling more producers to qualify for assistance over a longer period of time. These improvements will result in over $400 million in savings every year for America’s farmers on insurance premiums.” (U.S. Department of Agriculture: Farmers First – accessed 2/27/26)“[T]he bill increases the government's share of crop insurance premiums by 3 to 5 percentage points across all farmer-selected coverage levels (Figure 3), making higher coverage more affordable. The maximum coverage level for area-based insurance plans is also increased to 95%, and the premium subsidy for those plans is raised from 65% to 80%.” (Farm Bureau: One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Final Agricultural Provisions – 7/17/25)“Crop insurance is an essential risk management tool that allows American farmers and ranchers to endure weather and market volatility.” (U.S. Department of Agriculture: Farmers First – accessed 2/27/26)(Farm Bureau: One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Final Agricultural Provisions – 7/17/25)“For the first time in over a decade, the statutory reference prices for the farm safety net programs, ARC and PLC, were raised by 10-21% for major commodities such as corn, soybeans, and wheat.” (U.S. Department of Agriculture: Farmers First – accessed 2/27/26)“The bill raises statutory reference prices (price guarantees) for major covered commodities by 10-21%. Starting in crop year 2031, reference prices will grow by 0.5% annually on a compounded basis, with growth capped at 113% of the original value, reflecting long-term market trends while avoiding unchecked expansion.”(Farm Bureau: One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Final Agricultural Provisions – 7/17/25)The law expanded “eligibility for these price support programs by adding more than 30 million new base acres to the program.” (U.S. Department of Agriculture: Farmers First – accessed 2/27/26)THE WORKING FAMILIES TAX CUTS LAW ENACTED NUMEROUS ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS HELPING AMERICAN AGRICULTURE PRODUCERSIn addition to strengthening crop insurance and reference prices, Republicans’ Working Families Tax Cuts law enacted additional meaningful reforms:“Increases the coverage level available for the Whole Farm Revenue Protection plan of insurance and other area-based insurance policies.”“[I]ncreases the coverage level for the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) insurance plan to 90 percent, and the premium support is increased to 80 percent.”Establishes a livestock payment rate for weather and disease losses.Requires the Secretary to utilize a standard mortality rate of 15 percent when determining honeybee losses.Establishes a supplemental payment for the loss of unborn livestock.Provides one monthly payment for eligible livestock producers that own or lease grazing land or pastureland in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a severe drought in any area of the county for at least four consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period for the county, and two monthly payments for producers who experience such a drought for any seven of eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period.Provides $285 million for FY2026 and each fiscal year thereafter for the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a program to encourage the accessibility, development, maintenance, and expansion of commercial export markets for United States agricultural commodities. (U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry: Chairman Boozman Releases Updated Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Budget Reconciliation Text – 6/25/25)PrintEmailTweetPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER THUNEFacebookXInstagram
