Congress is in the midst of using the budget reconciliation process to work through and potentially pass the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. On May 22, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed its version -  H.R.1 One Big Beautiful Bill Act - which now sits with the U.S. Senate. The Senate is expected to make changes, the extent of which are unknown. The House will need to approve any changes made by the Senate before the bill can move to the President’s desk for signature and then become law.  A final bill may look significantly different than H.R.1 discussed below.

The scope of H.R.1  is broad, however there are aspects that impact beginning farmers most acutely – (1) the tax provisions and (2) the agriculture provisions that would typically be included in a farm bill. 

Tax Provisions

A discussion of the House bill’s income and estate tax provisions can be found in this article. What Tax Provisions are in the House's Big Beautiful Bill? | Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation.  In basic terms, H.R.1 extends many of the income tax provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that are slated to expire at the end of 2025, including the TCJA tax rates and brackets. H.R.1  also reinstates 100% bonus depreciation through 2030, permanently increases the Section 179 deduction to $2,500,000 (adjusted for inflation), and permanently extends and increases the qualified business income deduction.

 H.R.1  includes a permanent $15 million (indexed for inflation) per person estate and gift tax lifetime exemption. Under current tax law, the estate tax exemption is scheduled to decrease by half to approximately $7 million in 2026. A permanent $15 million per person exemption ($30 million per married couple with portability) will provide many retiring farmers with the option of transferring the farm to the next generation without estate tax liability. 

Farm Bill Provisions

H.R.1 includes several provisions that would normally be included in a farm bill. Farm bills are enacted every five years or so to reauthorize and modify Department of Agriculture programs. The last farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 , expired on September 30, 2023. We are currently operating under an extension of the 2018 farm bill through September 30, 2025. 

H.R.1  does not include the full breadth of typical farm bill provisions; however, it does address components of the various farm bill titles. For a full summary of the agriculture provisions included in H.R.1 , see Agricultural Provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill | Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation.

A few of the provisions that beginning farmers will be particularly interested in are included below.

Additional Base Acres: H.R.1  allows for a voluntary adjustment to base acres which could increase beginning farmer access to Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agricultural Risk Loss Coverage (ARC) safety net programs.

To use PLC and ARC, a farmer must be farming on land with “base acres.” Base acres are calculated based on USDA’s record of historic use of the land to produce eligible crops, not current use. Beginning farmers are more likely to be operating on farms with limited base acres and therefore may be unable to make full use of PLC and ARC even though they are growing crops that would otherwise be eligible for support under these programs. Currently there is no pathway to increase base acres. 

H.R.1 provides for up to 30,000,000 additional base acres to be allocated to farmers across the country. Farmers would be eligible for an upward adjustment if base acres (excluding unassigned crop base) as of September 30, 2024 are less than the total of (1) the five year average of the acres planted (and prevented from being planted) to covered commodities, and (2) up to 15 percent of the total farm acres planted to noncovered commodities. For new owners, the planting history of the prior owner(s) of the farm will be used to determine eligibility.  Additional base acres are capped at 30,000,000 across all farms in the U.S. 

Crop Insurance: H.R.1 increases the amount of time that beginning farmers qualify for additional crop insurance premium assistance from 5 to 10 years.  

Federal Crop Insurance is one of the risk management tools available to producers of covered crops, including beginning farmers.  Producers may purchase crop insurance on a variety of crops and products, including corn, soybeans, wheat, specialty crops, aquaculture, dairy, livestock, and grazing lands. The federal government subsidizes crop insurance premiums to encourage participation. Beginning farmers receive additional incentives, including a supplemental 10% premium subsidy. 

For crop insurance purposes, a beginning farmer is one who has not operated a farm or ranch for more than 5 years. H.R.1 expands the definition from five to ten years, doubling the length of time new producers are eligible for beginning farmer incentives.  In addition, H.R.1 increases the amount of the beginning farmer premium subsidy. 

Increased Funding for EQIP and CSP: H.R.1 secures funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)  and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) through 2031. Both programs, including the EQIP high tunnel initiative valued by beginning farmers, have often been oversubscribed in recent years based on current funding levels. 

For a more detailed discussion of the farm bill provisions contained in H.R.1,see  Agricultural Provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill | Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation.