While lawmakers just got done passing a continuing resolution to keep the government open, some major tax breaks for farmers and ranchers are still due to sunset this year unless Congress takes quick action.
“If nothing is done, there will be a tax increase at the end of the year that will hit farmers and ranchers in the pocketbooks, overall, that will be taxed tens of billions of dollars more than they otherwise would, and we need to make sure that Congress does its job and makes these tax reforms permanent,” said Dustin Sherer, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau.
The CR runs through September, which is the same time the Farm Bill extension expires. Lawmakers are looking to reauthorize the 2017 Tax Cuts through reconciliation. It is a process that allows the Senate to pass budget-related items with only a majority vote. Former USDA Deputy Secretary Chuck Connor says the Farm Bill could even get tied to that process.
“Some of our difficult farm bills in the past have been done as a result of reconciliation. And so, this is obviously in that category of very difficult farm bills.”
Lawmakers, like Chuck Grassley, say the Farm Bill might not be the best fit for the reconciliation process. Connor warns important discussions could be missed if regular order is bypassed. Farm CPA Paul Neiffer joined us recently and said there might not be a Farm Bill this year simply because there is no incentive.
“You know, they’ll just kick the can down the road one more year, especially with this political environment that we have between the Democrats and the Republicans, and even between the Republicans and the Republicans. You know, there’s really no incentive, and also I think farmers need to understand that if you’re a row crop farmer, and even if we have a ’26 Farm Bill that gets passed, most of you are not going to get any payments from that Farm Bill until October 2027.”
