House Farm Bill Reconciliation Summary Overview
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 1st and 2nd reinsurance years, 13 percentage points for 3rd reinsurance year, 11 percentage points for 4th reinsurance year, and 10 percentage points for 5th - 10th 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.
Tags: budget reconciliation, farm bill, policy