Business and Financial

Guest author:  Dr. Carl Zulauf, Professor Emeritus, Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, Ohio State University.

Note:  The U.S. House of Representatives passed its budget reconciliation bill on May 22, 2025.  Prior to the bill’s passage, the budget reconciliation process required the House Agriculture Committee to reduce spending by $230 billion over the 10-year budget period. The committee’s final proposed provisions for doing so, which represents the Farm Bill attention we’ve long awaited, were included in the budget reconciliation bill passed by the House. Thank you to our guest author and Farm Bill expert, Dr. Carl Zulauf, for the following summary of the House's proposed Farm Bill changes that now move over to the Senate for consideration.

1.  Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

• Secretary of Agriculture shall not increase cost of the thrifty food plan based on a reevaluation or update of its composition.
• Cost of thrifty food plan indexed for CPI inflation.
• Work requirements are increased.
• Required state matching share goes from 0% currently to 5% in Fiscal Year (FY) 2028.  This cuts Federal spending without cutting program benefits.
• Matching share increases as state’s SNAP error rate increases.  Matching share can be as high as 25%.

2.  Farm Safety Net

Support Prices

• Separate program for temperate japonica rice appears to have been terminated.
• Starting with 2031 crop year, prior year reference price increased by multiplying it by 1.005.
• In no year can a reference price exceed 115% of its 2026-2030 statutory value, so adjustment does not apply if reference price escalator is at its maximum.
• For long grain and medium grain rice, marketing loans repaid at prevailing world market price.
• For upland cotton, marketing loans repaid at lowest prevailing world market price. 
• For upland cotton, a refund shall be provided to producer equal to difference between the lowest prevailing world market price and the repayment amount.
• For 2026-2031 crop years, upland cotton and extra-long staple cotton shall receive storage payments equal to the lessor of the submitted tariff rate for the marketing year or $4.90 for California and Arizona or $3.00 for other states.
• Textile mill assistance equals 3 cents / pound until July 31, 2025; 5 cents / pound thereafter.

Additional Base Acres

• Up to 30 million new base acres can be added by eligible farms. 
• Only farms that planted or prevent planted a crop over 2019-2023 can add new base acres.
• An eligible farm is a farm for which 2019-2023 crop year average program commodity acres planted or prevent planted plus lesser of (a) 15% of farm’s total acres or (b) 2019-2023 crop year average acres planted or prevent planted to commodities other than program commodities, trees, bushes, vines, grass, or pasture (including cropland that was idle or fallow) exceeds the farm’s base acres as of September 30, 2024 excluding unassigned cotton base acres. 5-year average includes years with no acres planted or prevent planted. Positive difference is farm’s potential new base acres; includes unassigned cotton base.
• New base acre are allocated among covered commodities using the ratio of 2019-2023 average acres planted or prevent planted to covered crops on the farm to the 5-year average of covered crops planted or prevent planted plus new base acres.
• If multiple covered crops were grown on a given acre in any year from 2019-2023 (other than a covered crop produced under an established practice of double cropping), the owner elects which of the covered crop is included in potential new base.
• A farm’s total base acres after adding new base acres cannot exceed the farm’s total acres.
• Pro-rating occurs if total eligible new base acres exceed 30,000,000.  Each eligible farm’s new base acres is reduced by an across-the board share so new base acres total 30 milion.
• Assessment: Farm Service Agency (FSA) reported roughly 270 million base acres for 2019 crop year after excluding unassigned cotton base acres of roughly 3 million.  Sum of average National Agriculture Statistics Service planted acres plus average FSA prevent plant acres to current program crops over 2019-2023 equal roughly 264 million, implying approximately 24 million acres (264 + 30 – 270) of current non-covered crops, including unassigned cotton base acres, could be added to US base acres.  This is a major expansion of commodity program payments to current noncovered crops.

Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Payment Yield

• Beginning with crop year 2026, PLC payment yields for new base acres on a farm are current PLC payment yields for the farm.  If the farm has no current payment yield for a crop, PLC payment yield for the farm is set equal to average payment yield for the county in which the farm is situated or is determined using existing methods if no PLC yield exists.

Producer Election

• Annual producer election is extended through 2031 crop year. 
• If no election is made, default choice is the same coverage for each covered commodity as existed for 2024 crop year.

Agriculture Risk Coverage

• Coverage level is increased from 86% to 90% beginning with the 2025 crop year.
• Payment cap per base acre is increased from 10% to 12.5% of the benchmark revenue beginning with the 2025 crop year.

Special Rule for Seed Cotton and Corn

• In determining the maximum payment rate for ARC-CO and PLC, the current year price can be no lower than $0.30 / pound for seed cotton and ‘$3.30 / bushel for corn.
• No marketing loan rate can be established for seed cotton.’’

Payment Limits

• Increases number of potential payment entities on a farm by expanding entities designated as qualified pass-through entities
• Increases per person payment entity from ‘$125,000 ’to ‘$155,000.
• Payment limit is indexed to CPI inflation.
• Payment limit waived if 75% or more of the average gross income of the person or legal entity is derived from farming, ranching, or silviculture activities.

Sugar Program

• Sets loan rate for raw cane sugar for 2025-2031 crop years at 24.00 cents / pound and for beet sugar at 136.55% of the raw cane sugar loan rate.
• Adjusts rate for storing sugar forfeited to the government.
• Changes beet sugar allotments.

Dairy Margin Coverage

• Updates production history to highest annual milk marketing during any one of the 2021, 2022, or 2023 calendar years.
• Raises maximum coverage from 5 million to 6 million pounds.

Livestock and Tree Loss Assistance

• Payment rate for losses due to predation is 100% of market value of affected livestock.
• Payment rate for losses due to adverse weather or disease is 75% of market value of affected livestock.
• Adds payment for unborn livestock.
• For livestock forage disaster program, changes eligibility from 8 consecutive weeks to 4 consecutive weeks or 7 of 8 consecutive weeks.  Payments can be received for 2 months of losses instead of current 1 month of losses.
• Adds assistance for losses of farm-raised fish due to piscivorous birds.
• Changes determination of normal mortality rate for tree losses and honeybee colony losses.

3. Crop Insurance

Premium Subsidy

• Sets highest coverage level at 85% for individual yield or revenue insurance, 90% for individual yield or revenue insurance aggregated across multiple commodities, and 95% for area yield or revenue insurance. 
• Increases coverage level for Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) from 86% to 90%.
• Increases premium subsidy for SCO from 65% to 80%.

Administrative and Operating (A&O) Expenses:

• Beginning with the 2026 reinsurance year, an additional A&O subsidy is to be paid to insurance providers for eligible contracts.  Amount is 6% of net book premium.  Eligible contract is a crop insurance contract in an eligible State.  Excluded are catastrophic risk contracts, area-based or similar contracts; and a contract that the provider does not incur loss adjustment expenses as determined by the Corporation.  Eligible state is a state in Group 2 or Group 3 as defined in the Standard Reinsurance Agreement for reinsurance year 2026) and eligible contract’s loss ratio exceeds 120% of total net book premium written by all approved insurance providers.  
• Beginning with 2026 reinsurance year, A&O reimbursement to approved insurance providers and agents for Specialty Crops shall be at least 17% of premium used to define loss ratio A&O reimbursements for contracts covering agricultural commodities subject to an increase during 2011-2015 reinsurance years are to be adjusted for inflation in a manner consistent with the 2011-2015 increases.  For 2026 reinsurance year, inflation adjustment shall not exceed the percentage change for the preceding reinsurance year included in Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.
• Increases funds for monitoring program compliance and integrity from current $0.004 billion per FY to $0.006 billion per FY plus $0.01 billion for a related statute for FY2026 and after.
• Authorizes creation of a Poultry Insurance Pilot Program.  Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi must be included.

Beginning and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers

• Extends eligibility to 10 years from 5 years.
• Increases subsidy assistance from 10 percentage points  to 15 percentage points for 1^st and 2^nd reinsurance years, 13 percentage points for 3^rd reinsurance year, 11 percentage points for 4^th reinsurance year, and 10 percentage points for 5^th - 10^th  reinsurance years.

4.  Conservation

• Authorizes funding for Environmental Quality Incentives Program ($2.7 billion for FY2026 to $3.3 billion for FY2028 – 2031); Conservation Stewardship Program ($1.3 billion for FY2026 to $1.4 billion for FY2029 – 31); Agricultural Conservation Easement Program ($0.625 billion for FY2026 to $0.700 billion in FY2029 – 2031); and Regional Conservation Partnership Program ( $0.425 billion for FY2026 to $0.450 billion for FY2027 – 2031).
• Authorizes funds for Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention ($150 million / year). Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program ($10 million / year), Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program ($15 million / year), and Grassroots Source Water Protection Program ($1 million through FY2031). 

5.  Trade

• Authorizes funds through FY 2031 for trade promotion programs: Market Access Program, $0.40 billion / year; Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program, $0.07 billion / year; E (Kika) De La Garza Emerging Markets Program, $0.008 billion / year; Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops, $0.009 billion / year; and Priority Trade Fund, $0.0035 billion / year.
• Gives Secretary of Agriculture discretion to provide a greater allocation to a program(s) for which amount requested exceeds available funding but should try to support exports of types of commodities that funds were originally allocated.

6.  Research

• Authorizes funds for Urban, Indoor, and Other Emerging Agricultural Production Research, Education, and Extension Initiative, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, Scholarships for Students at 1890 Institutions, Assistive Technology Program for Farmers with Disabilities, Specialty Crop Research Initiative, and Research Facilities Act.
• Extends certain provisions of Secure Rural Schools & Community Self-Determination Act of 2000.
• Rescinds unobligated balances of Competitive Grants for Non-Federal Forest Landowners program and State and Private Forestry Conservation Programs.

7.  Energy

• Extends Biobased Markets Program and Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels through 2031.

8.  Other

• Authorizes funding for Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention, Specialty Crop Block Grants, Organic Production and Market Data Initiative, Modernization and Improvement of International Trade Technology Systems and Data Collection, National Organic Certification Cost Share Program, and Multiple Crop and Pesticide Use Survey.
• Authorized funding for Animal Disease Prevention and Management Program and Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program. 
• Extends Pima Agriculture Cotton Trust Fund, Agriculture Wool Apparel Manufacturers Trust Fund, Wool Research and Promotion, and Emergency Citrus Disease Research and Development Trust Fund through 2031.

 

Authored by: Carl Zulauf, Seungki Lee, and David Marrison, Ohio State University, May 2025

Click here for PDF version of this paper

This paper provides estimates of expected payments by the ARC-CO (Agriculture Risk Coverage – County version) and PLC (Price Loss Coverage) commodity programs for the 2024 crop year. 

Official payment rates are expected in October 2025.  They can deviate notably from estimates as final prices and yields are yet known.  Prices and yields, particularly for ARC-CO, are in a range where small changes can cause large changes in payment rates.  Use the estimates with caution.

The estimates use 2024 crop year program parameters from USDA, FSA (US Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency), and latest available data for 2024 market year price estimates from USDA, FSA and county yield estimates from USDA, NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service).

May 2025 Estimates of 2024 Crop Year Payments:

1. ARC-CO:  Ohio corn and soybean payments are expected for at least some counties.  As a revenue program, ARC-CO payment calculations include yield.  2024 Ohio weather was highly variable.  Yields and thus county payment rates will be variable.  Some counties have irrigated and non-irrigated base acres.  Payment estimates are calculated only for non-irrigated base since dryland production is far more common in Ohio.  Payment estimates per base acre vary from $0 (21 counties) to $90 (Greene) for corn base and from $0 (13 counties) to $58 (Fairfield) for soybean base (see appended maps).  These estimates include the 85% payment factor (i.e. 15% payment reduction factor).  No estimate is available for corn and soybeans in 24 and 15 counties.  A common reason is that too few farmers in the county responded to the NASS survey to estimate yield with statistical confidence.  County NASS yields are not available for wheat.  Also appended are maps of county gross revenue (estimated price times estimated yield) plus estimated ARC-CO pay rate per acre.  They illustrate that ARC-CO payments are countercyclical to low market revenue (correlation between total revenue and ARC-CO pay rate is roughly -0.30).  Higher revenue/yields are almost always preferred to an ARC-CO payment.
2. PLC:  At present, no PLC payments are expected for corn, soybeans, and wheat as the current estimate of US market year price is not below the effective reference price:  corn ($4.35 vs. $4.01), soybeans ($9.95 vs. $9.26), and wheat ($5.50 vs. $5.50).

Commodity Program Policy Objective:

1. ARC-CO provides assistance if a crop’s county market revenue is below 86% of a crop’s county benchmark market revenue for 5 recent crop years.
2. PLC provides assistance if a crop’s US market year price is below 100% of the crop’s US effective reference price set by Congress. 
3. ARC-IC provides assistance if an ARC-IC farm’s average per acre revenue from all program crops is below 86% of the ARC-IC farm’s per acre benchmark revenue.

Payment Formulas:

ARC-CO payment rate per base acre = MAX [$0, or 86% times (county benchmark revenue minus observed revenue) times a farm’s PLC base yield times 85% payment reduction factor].  County benchmark revenue = (5-crop year Olympic average (high and low values removed) of recent US market year prices times 5-crop year Olympic average of recent trend-adjusted county yields).  Observed revenue = observed US crop year price times observed county yield.  ARC-CO payment rate is capped at 10% of county benchmark revenue.

PLC payment rate per base acre = MAX [$0, or (US effective reference price – US market year price) times a farm’s PLC base yield times 85% payment reduction factor].

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On April 9, 2025, Ohio enacted House Bill 106, known as the Pay Stub Protection Act. This bipartisan legislation marks a meaningful step forward in promoting wage transparency and safeguarding worker rights across the state. Prior to this law, Ohio stood out as one of the few states without a mandate for employers to issue pay stubs. With its passage, the Act now ensures employees are provided with comprehensive earnings statements, bringing Ohio in line with the practices of most other states.

What the Law Requires
Under the Pay Stub Protection Act (codified in Ohio Revised Code Section 4113.14), employers are now mandated to provide each employee with a written or electronic pay statement on every regular payday. These statements must include: 

• Employee’s name and address;  
• Employer’s name; 
• Total gross wages earned by the employee during the pay period; 
• Total net wages paid to employee for the pay period; 
• An itemized list of additions to or deductions from wages paid to the employee, with explanations; and
• The date the employee was paid and the pay period covered by that payment. 

For hourly employees, the following three additional items are also required: 

• Total hours worked during the pay period; 
• Hourly wage rate; and
• Total number of hours worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek.    

Enforcement
While the Pay Stub Protection Act brings Ohio in line with the majority of states regarding wage transparency, it differs from some by not granting employees the right to sue or seek monetary compensation for an employer’s noncompliance. If an employee does not receive a pay stub that meets the Act’s requirements, they must first submit a written request to their employer for a compliant pay stub. The employer then has 10 days to provide the required statement.

If the employer fails to respond within that timeframe, the employee may report the violation to the Ohio Department of Commerce. Should the Department find a violation, it will issue a written notice to the employer. The employer is then required to post the notice in a conspicuous location on the premises for a period of 10 days. 

Implications for Employers 
Although many employers already issue pay stubs as a matter of best practice, Ohio law now makes it a legal requirement. This change presents an opportunity for employers to review their payroll systems and make any necessary updates to ensure compliance. Employers should confirm that their pay statements contain all required information and that any third-party payroll providers are also adhering to the new standards.

A Step Toward Greater Transparency
The Pay Stub Protection Act marks a meaningful step forward for worker rights in Ohio. By requiring detailed pay statements, the law equips employees with the information necessary to confirm their earnings and promotes greater transparency and fairness in the workplace.

For additional details about the Pay Stub Protection Act and its requirements, refer to the official legislative text of House Bill 106 or visit the Ohio Department of Commerce’s website.

 

Farm transition planning is an essential process for agricultural operations. However, identifying and tracking assets and resources and preparing for transition planning can present significant challenges for farm families. To assist with these tasks, Ohio State University Extension has developed the Farm Asset and Resource Management Spreadsheet (FARMS), designed to provide a structured approach to organizing farm transition information.

What is FARMS?

FARMS is an Excel-based resource designed to support farm families and agricultural professionals in collecting and systematically organizing all necessary information related to farm transition planning. Whether at the preliminary stage or already engaged in detailed succession planning, FARMS enables users to input and manage varying levels of data effectively.  See example screenshots below for further explanation.

What Information Does FARMS Collect?

Farms collects all the following information:

• Family and beneficiary names and contact information
• Bank accounts
• Financial Accounts
• Life Insurance
• Business Entities
• Real Estate
• Personal Property
• Farm Property
• Debt information
• Designations for executor, trustee, power of attorney, guardian

What Does Farms Do with the Collected Information?

FARMS uses the information provided by the user to do the following:

• Help ensure assets are titled to avoid probate
• Determine net worth and value of estate
• Calculate estate tax liability
• Allocate assets and net worth between spouses
• Allocate assets among beneficiaries to determine how much each beneficiary will receive from the transition plan
• Provide information that will be needed to complete wills, trusts and power of attorney documents.

How to Use FARMS?

Given its foundation in Excel, users should possess at least a basic familiarity with spreadsheet navigation. Training videos are available on YouTube to assist new users with becoming familiar with FARMS, explaining how to enter data and use the summary and analysis functions.  A link to the training videos is provided below. Additionally, OSU Extension occasionally provides training sessions for potential users.  It is recommended to review the training videos or attend a training session before using FARMS.

Who Should Use FARMS?

FARMS is suited for anyone involved in the farm transition planning process, from family members beginning their farm transition plan to professional advisors engaged in developing detailed transition strategies for clients.

Accessing FARMS

To begin using FARMS, interested users can download the file at the link provided below.  We request users complete an initial, short survey prior to downloading FARMS, as user feedback is important to the ongoing improvement of the spreadsheet.  FARMS is available at no cost due to the financial support of key partners including North Central Extension Risk Management Education and the National Agricultural Law Center.

Conclusion

FARMS offers a structured, organized approach to farm transition planning, allowing farm families and professionals to collect comprehensive, accurate information.  For additional information and to begin utilizing FARMS, visit Ohiofarmoffice.osu.edu and discover how FARMS can positively impact your farm’s transition planning efforts.

Links for FARMS

Training Videos are available here: https://www.youtube.com/@osufarmoffice

FARMS can be downloaded here: https://farmoffice.osu.edu/farmsspreadsheet

 

Upcoming FARMS Online Training Courses

Click on registration link to register for the course.

April 7 @ 10:00 am:   https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/oJmnwm-VQx6XjqvBh7J0aA

April 16 @ 10:00 am:  https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/iY9cLoJeQwS0rUHkHr3DpA

April 23 @ 1:00 pm:  https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/vT_-X56FQQqBT63fKUQW4g

May 2 @ 3:00 pm:     https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/KmbdTjq2SryLkYNOaevp3Q

 

Example screenshots of FARMS

This worksheet collects family and contact information.  This information is used throughout the spreadsheet for beneficiary designations, executor identification and beneficiary allocations.

 

This worksheet collects all real estate information including parcel identification, value, ownership and probate status.  This information is used to avoid probate, and the values are included in the estate tax and beneficiary distribution analysis.  Note the use of client and beneficiary names retrieved from contact information worksheet.

 

This worksheet collects information on up to 10 business entities.  The type of entity, tax structure, assets held in the entity, ownership information and probate status is all included. 

 

This is the summary and analysis page.  All the information provided in the financial worksheets are pulled into this page and summarized.  The user can assess net worth and analyze potential estate tax liability.  Additionally, assets can be divided between spouses for additional estate tax analysis.  Perhaps most importantly, the assets can be allocated among the beneficiaries to visualize the distribution plan.  A running total for each beneficiary is provided.