The One Big Beautiful Bill provides several wins for agriculture. Chief among them would be a boost to outdated reference prices, improved crop insurance coverage, the immediate expensing of farm equipment, a small business tax break, an increase in the estate tax exemption, and an improved 45Z Clean Fuel credit.
Opponents of the bill target spending cuts for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, saying millions will lose eligibility.
Indiana Congressman Jim Baird, a Republican on the House Ag Committee, says they are rooting out fraud and abuse in those programs, and the One Big Beautiful Bill allows appropriate funding for the people that really need it.
“We’re talking about mothers, we’re talking about children, we’re talking about disabled individuals,” Baird says. “We’re even talking about veterans. And so, if they’re eligible for that program, like the SNAP program, then we certainly want to see them have it. So, I resent the idea that we’re going to take millions of people off. And the one 1 million that we’re going to, a little over a million that we think ought to come off, is 1.4 million illegal immigrants that are using our Medicaid and our SNAP programs, and I don’t think they’re eligible for that.”
Politico says lawmakers included $67 billion in spending on farm bill programs in the reconciliation bill. While some of the most expensive priorities were taken care of, other farm programs need funding, extended, or updated.
“We’re talking about marketing,” Baird tells us. “We’re talking about making sure we have the crop insurance right, making sure we have the conservation programs well supported and well-funded, and that we have the technology to be able to do that.”
Baird says they’ll look to accomplish those goals in a new “skinny” farm bill. Will the farm bill have the support it needs to pass without SNAP included in the traditionally bipartisan ag committees in DC?
“I say the only way this place functions is to have compromise. And then, you know, that’s a rare commodity we’re having around here in recent years. But in the end, people want to have food, and they want to have the ability to buy food.”
GT Thompson, Chairman of the House Ag Committee, expects the “skinny” farm bill to be introduced in the fall and to be largely based on what they advanced in 2024.
Baird shared his thoughts on the Indiana Ag Policy Podcast, a production of Hoosier Ag Today. Here more from him below or wherever you listen to podcasts.
