Farm Bill Provisions Aim to Boost Crop Coverage and Fairness
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act which President Trump will sign today includes significant provisions for agriculture, functioning as a farm bill within broader legislation. The bill brings major changes to crop insurance, commodity programs, and base acre policies, with varying impacts across the U.S.
According to University of Illinois ag economist Gary Schnitkey, this is a rare case of farm bill components being folded into a larger bill.
The changes include increased subsidies for crop insurance, with Basic and Optional Unit support rising, and Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) subsidies improving. SCO coverage would move from 86% to 90%, with the subsidy level increasing from 65% to 80%.
A standout provision allows landowners to add base acres to their farms. This benefits Midwest farmers who have planted more corn or soybeans than their current base acres reflect.
Three criteria determine if more base acres can be added: recent planting averages, non-program crop areas, and unassigned acres from older programs like cotton.
While helpful to some Midwest operations, Southern crops like rice, peanuts, and cotton stand to gain more, as they already have base acres exceeding current planting levels.
This could result in up to 30 million new base acres, a projected 11% increase. Payments per acre vary widely: corn averages $31, soybeans $21, but peanuts and rice command $256 and $268 per acre, respectively. This disparity favors Southern farms and widens the gap in federal support.
Schnitkey emphasizes that this approach does not fully align support with actual planting. The long-term concern is that continued subsidy imbalance could complicate rural development and funding fairness between regions.
The bill may help some farmers but also raises equity concerns. As debate continues, farmers and policymakers will watch closely to see how these changes unfold.