by U.S. SENATOR DEB FISCHER
Last week, the House and Senate passed the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act and sent it to the president’s desk to be signed into law. Today, I want to highlight how this new law delivers for Nebraska’s producers who fuel and feed our nation.
The One Big, Beautiful Bill supports sweeping tax relief for working Americans and provides a major victory for the economic driver of our state: agriculture. This legislation includes core policies a Farm Bill would produce and delivers long-overdue reforms that will help producers meet today’s challenges and plan for the future with confidence.
After years of gridlock and uncertainty, we’ve finally delivered real results for Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. The last Farm Bill, enacted in 2018, was supposed to be reauthorized in 2023. Producers instead have been forced to rely on short-term extensions that ignore the evolving challenges they face. While the Biden administration stalled, we stepped up. I’m proud that the reconciliation bill includes key Farm Bill priorities that provide the long-overdue certainty and support our ag community needs.
From day one, I pushed to ensure this bill addressed the modern realities of ag production. The updated reference prices for the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and improvements to Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) reflect current markets and rising input costs. These changes — which go into effect immediately for the 2025 crop year — mean Nebraska producers will see tens of millions of dollars in relief starting now, not years from now.
We also strengthened crop insurance, building on key provisions of the FARMER Act – a bill I’m a cosponsor of in the Senate. The bill increases premium support for individual coverage and improves the Supplemental Coverage Option by raising coverage levels and boosting premium support. It’s a smarter, more reliable safety net for our producers.
This bill also locks in pro-growth tax provisions that were set to expire — delivering permanent relief and stability for small businesses, including family farms and ranches.
We’ve permanently extended the 20% Section 199A deduction for pass-through businesses and agricultural cooperatives. We’ve raised the Section 179 equipment expensing limit to $2.5 million. And we’ve made 100% bonus depreciation permanent.
Another win in this new law is death tax relief. The death tax exemption will rise and be adjusted annually for inflation. That means more family farms, ranches, and businesses can stay in the family, instead of being sold off to cover tax bills.
Additionally, this bill strengthens disaster and disease programs that are essential to Nebraska’s livestock producers. It expands the Livestock Forage Disaster Program to allow payments after four weeks of drought instead of eight and doubles the number of monthly payments available when severe drought persists. For livestock lost to predators or extreme weather, the Livestock Indemnity Program will now pay 100% and 75% of market value, respectively — including for unborn livestock.
Meanwhile, key voluntary conservation program funding has been permanently increased, providing billions in support through U.S. Department of Agriculture programs. And to help prevent catastrophic disease outbreaks, the bill boosts animal health funding to $233 million annually, supporting vital programs like the National Animal Vaccine Bank and the Animal Disease Preparedness and Response Program. Additionally, agricultural trade promotion program funding will nearly double to allow our ag producers to develop markets for our products around the world.
Agriculture is Nebraska’s largest industry and the backbone of our state. This bill gives family operations the tools and certainty they need to grow. After years of stalled Farm Bill progress, we’ve finally delivered real relief.
With the One Big, Beautiful Bill, Nebraska’s economic engine is firing on all cylinders. Our farmers and ranchers have what they need to keep feeding and fueling the nation, and I’ll keep working to make sure Washington has their back.
Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.
