House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) issued the following statement after the committee passed its portion of H. Con. Res. 14 Title 2001(b)(1):
“Our section of the One Big, Beautiful Bill restores integrity to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, provides relief to farmers, invests in the future of rural America, and prevents the largest tax increase on American families.
We ensure that SNAP works the way Congress intended it to, by reinforcing work, rooting out waste, and instituting long-overdue accountability incentives to control costs and end executive and state overreach.
We preserve the program’s ability to serve the most vulnerable long into the future. At the same time, we’re strengthening the farm safety net and delivering critical support to the farmers, workers, and communities that keep America fed.
These commonsense solutions help build a stronger, more resilient rural America. I’m grateful to my colleagues on the Committee for their hard work, and I look forward to passing this bill in the House and delivering results for families across the country.”
Several Ag Groups have released statements over the passage of this “down payment” on the 2025 Farm Bill:
National Association of Wheat Growers:
In response the House Ag Committee’s work on Wednesday, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) President Pat Clements made the following statement:
“NAWG appreciates Chairman Thompson’s leadership in advancing these critical investments in the farm safety net, conservation, trade, research, and other programs. This legislation reflects many of the key priorities that America’s wheat growers have been advocating for over the past three years. It is essential that these improvements to the farm safety net remain intact as Congress continues through the reconciliation process,”
“While the committee bill does not include all of NAWG’s Farm Bill priorities, it does work to protect and enhance the crop insurance program, provide a meaningful increase in the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, double funding for the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program, and invest in agricultural research. Congress must act this year to strengthen the farm programs to provide farmers with a robust safety net and long-term certainty. Farmers need these improvements this year, not next year.”
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association:
Today, the House Agriculture Committee passed their initial reconciliation bill, which contains several NCBA supported provisions that strengthen our defense against foreign animal disease and support producers who have lost cattle due to predator depredation or natural disasters. The legislation now moves to the full House of Representatives for further consideration.
“Cattle farmers and ranchers across the country have continued advocating for tools that protect the cattle industry from foreign animal disease and help producers recover from the loss of their cattle, whether by predator depredation or challenging weather conditions. This legislation is a critical step forward for addressing these issues,” said NCBA Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Ethan Lane. “NCBA appreciates the support of the House Agriculture Committee and Chairman GT Thompson, who continues being a champion for the cattle industry. We urge the full House and Senate to quickly pass this bill so President Trump can sign it into law.”
This bill addresses many of the issues that NCBA members have brought forward through our association’s grassroots policy process. In particular, this bill would:
- Reimburse cattle producers for loss due to depredation by federally protected predators.
- Expand access to the livestock forage disaster program for producers experiencing drought.
- Continue funding the feral swine eradication program.
- Bolster the “three-legged stool” that protects the cattle industry from foreign animal disease, including the National Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program (NADPRP), the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN), and the National Animal Vaccine and Veterinary Countermeasures Bank (NAVVCB). The NAVVCB currently houses emergency supplies for responding to a food-and-mouth disease outbreak.
National Farmers Union
National Farmers Union (NFU) President Rob Larew released the following statement in response to the House Agriculture Committee’s passage of budget reconciliation instructions:
“We appreciate that the House Agriculture Committee recognizes the financial pressures facing family farmers and ranchers. Proposals to strengthen crop insurance, bolster the farm safety net, and maintain voluntary conservation programs are important steps toward securing the future of our food system.
But this is not the best way to produce a meaningful farm bill. Our members know that the process matters. Pitting farm and nutrition priorities against one another creates unnecessary division and weakens the broader effort. A strong farm bill—however it comes together—must reflect the full scope of challenges facing agriculture and rural communities, and it must work for everyone it touches: farmers, ranchers, and families across the country.”
American Soybean Association
The American Soybean Association is grateful for Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson’s continued, steadfast support of farm bill programs that are critical to U.S. soybean farmers. The House Agriculture Committee has completed a two-day markup of budget reconciliation legislation the Chairman is using as a vehicle to advance farm bill priorities that are key for ASA.
“It is no secret the farm economy is in a dire situation, and ASA appreciates the efforts of Chairman Thompson to highlight the needs of farmers, including increasing reference prices for commodities, increasing support for market access programs and more,” said ASA President Caleb Ragland, who grows soy in Kentucky. “ASA continues to urge Congress to work toward passing a much-needed five-year farm bill this year but is encouraged to see continued congressional support for our top priorities.”
The budget reconciliation package marked up by House Ag contains several provisions ASA advocated for during the farm bill negotiations of the last Congress, including:
• Increasing reference prices for soybeans
• Strengthening crop insurance
• Doubling funding for the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program (MAP and FMD)
• Making improvements to the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program
• Investing in conservation programs
• Investing in agricultural research
• Reauthorizing farm bill biobased and biofuel programs, including BioPreferred
The multi-committee budget reconciliation process includes myriad policy priorities for congressional Republicans, and while this is just an early step in the larger reconciliation process, ASA is pleased the House Agriculture Committee is keeping farmer priorities top of mind as work continues to draft a comprehensive five-year farm bill.
National Milk Producers Federation
The National Milk Producers Federation today lauded the inclusion of critical resources in the House Agriculture Committee’s reconciliation proposal that would boost the agricultural economy and provide farmers certainty.
“We commend Chairman GT Thompson and committee members for advancing important investments that will help support and create opportunities for dairy,” said Gregg Doud, president and CEO of NMPF. “We will work with lawmakers to advance these provisions through Congress, knowing that dairy is well-served by what the House Agriculture Committee is approving.”
NMPF is pleased that the bill extends the Dairy Margin Coverage program through 2031, providing dairy producers with much-needed continuity. The package also bases the program’s production history calculation on a farmer’s highest production year out of 2021, 2022, or 2023, an update that better reflects recent on-farm production levels. The bill also funds mandatory USDA dairy processing plant cost surveys every two years, which will better inform future make allowance conversations. Finally, it includes long-term resources for important trade promotion, conservation, research, and animal health programs.
The legislation, which is expected to be approved today by the House Agriculture Committee, will ultimately be folded into a broader budget reconciliation package that will include an extension of current tax policies, among other areas. NMPF supports House Ways and Means Committee language to make the Section 199A tax deduction permanent, which will allow dairy cooperatives to continue to either passing the deduction back to their farmer owners or reinvesting it in their cooperatives.
“Whether it’s risk management or tax issues, the stakes are enormous for Congress to get the policy right in this legislation,” Doud said. “House committees have done good work this week to start major elements of this bill on the right track for dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own.”
National Corn Growers Association
NCGA Comments on House Budget Reconciliation Legislation
May 14, 2025
NCGA Comments on House Budget Reconciliation Legislation
May 14, 2025
Key Issues:EthanolTradeFederal Tax PolicyFarm Bill
Author: Bryan Goodman
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) today praised the passage of key tax extensions, championed by the organization, which passed the House Committee on Ways and Means as part of the budget reconciliation process.
“We applaud the members of the House Committee on Ways and Means and Chairman Smith for approving these tax policies, which are important to the financial viability of the nation’s corn growers,” said Illinois farmer and NCGA President Kenneth Hartman Jr. “These important provisions in the federal tax code must be extended this year.”
The bill includes many of NCGA’s federal tax priorities, including:
- Permanently extending key provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, including the expanded estate and gift tax exemptions and the qualified business income deduction.
- Renewing 100% bonus depreciation for five years.
- Extending and modifying the clean fuel production tax credit, referred to as 45Z, until 2031. The tax credit can help the biofuels industry make inroads into the aviation sector and attract investment into opening new markets for U.S. corn.
NCGA also weighed in on the measure that passed the House Committee on Agriculture on Wednesday night. Corn growers recognized Chairman Thompson and members of the Agriculture Committee for shepherding key agricultural initiatives in a complicated political and budgetary environment.
“We appreciate Chairman Thompson’s efforts to include key agricultural investments in must-pass legislation,” he said.
The bill contains several of NCGA’s longstanding farm bill priorities, including:
- Addressing the affordability of federal crop insurance coverage for producers. The language expands support for beginning and veteran farmers and ranchers and provides improvements to the Supplemental Coverage Option.
- Doubling mandatory funding for the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program, which will develop new markets and promote U.S. goods, helping to boost U.S. agricultural exports.
- Strengthening the producer safety net by investing in modifications to the Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage commodity programs that are more responsive to the current economic environment. Hartman said corn growers appreciate that the legislation increases the ARC coverage level and payment band and increases the statutory PLC reference price for corn to $4.10.
However, corn growers remain concerned with the imbalance of investment across various commodities and potential impacts of the changes to the PLC program. NCGA is particularly concerned with the adoption of a new floor price of $3.30 for corn, which would create a new gap in price coverage if the national marketing year average prices for corn were severely depressed. The legislation unfairly expands the concept only to corn growers.
NCGA continues to advocate for more meaningful reforms to existing base acres that underpin the eligibility for the ARC and PLC commodity programs. Those reforms were not fully included in the committee’s budget proposal. NCGA will continue to advocate for policies to ensure that all base acres, program eligibility and payments better reflect growers’ recent planting history.
While acknowledging that the House Committee on Agriculture’s budget proposal contained some of NCGA’s farm bill priorities, the organization also voiced concerns with the overall process and its implications for future farm bills.
“NCGA’s farmer leaders have long stood on the policy position that farm bills should be comprehensive and bipartisan, and that they should include farm programs and nutrition programs,” Hartman said. “Given that budget reconciliation provides only a partial pathway for select components of the farm bill, we would like return to a bipartisan, comprehensive approach to future farm bill debates.”
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce included language that would rescind the latest EPA multipollutant rules and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s CAFE Rule. NCGA has called for inclusion of the language in the budget reconciliation bill. This is a significant action that would protect ethanol demand in the future.
NCGA has called for inclusion of language in the budget reconciliation bill that would eliminate a regulatory barrier to consumers’ year-round access to fuels with 15% ethanol blends, referred to as E15.
“NCGA will continue to make the case to legislators to include E15 in the final reconciliation package,” Hartman said. “Providing nationwide, year-round access to these fuels would save consumers money at the pump and help farmers financially, while serving as a boon to rural economies. Including this fix in reconciliation offers the added benefit of eliminating the need for regulatory waivers and our analysis shows it would achieve significant cost savings.”
