Agriculture is a challenging way of life, but the last few years have been some of the most challenging in recent memory. Higher input costs, higher interest rates, disease, and natural disasters have all made it more difficult. I promised that Senate Republicans would make farmers and ranchers a priority, and I’m proud to report that we’ve addressed some of the challenges facing agriculture in the One Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump signed into law on July 4.
The One Big Beautiful Bill strengthens the farm safety net. It reauthorizes commodity programs through 2031 and raises reference prices for every covered commodity. In recent years, reference prices haven’t even covered increases in input costs, but, thanks to this bill, reference prices will now more closely reflect the market conditions farmers are dealing with. It also bolsters crop insurance, and I’m proud that it includes my bill to extend crop insurance support for beginning farmers for their first 10 years of operation.
There’s also good news in this bill for livestock producers. It improves the Livestock Indemnity Program, covering 100 percent of losses for animals lost to predation and 75 percent for those lost due to weather or disease, plus a supplemental payment for loss of unborn livestock. It also includes a provision I authored to reduce the number of weeks of drought necessary to trigger payments from the Livestock Forage Disaster Program from eight to four weeks. And it makes critical investments in disease prevention and preparedness efforts – all the more important as things like the bird flu, the New World screwworm, and African Swine Fever threaten livestock.
Farmers and ranchers will also benefit from the tax relief in the One Big Beautiful Bill. It makes the lower tax rates Republicans secured in 2017 permanent. Agriculture operations will be able to continue using the 199A deduction, which this bill makes permanent. And full expensing is also now a permanent feature of the tax code, meaning farmers and ranchers can deduct the full cost of new equipment the year they start using it.
Farming and ranching is an important way of life, and I know most farmers and ranchers dream of passing their operation down to the next generation. That’s why I’ve long worked to eliminate the fundamentally flawed death tax. I’m proud that, thanks to this bill, a lot more farms and ranches are going to be protected from this tax. We raised the death tax exemption threshold permanently, meaning more farmers and ranchers won’t have to worry about the death tax eating up what they spent their lives building, which will help keep our proud heritage of family farming strong.
The last few years have been difficult, but I’m proud to report that relief is on the way. We’ve updated programs to ensure they support farmers and ranchers through the realities they face today. And you can be assured that I’ll continue working to support South Dakota’s hardworking farmers and ranchers.
