President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill’s” implications for ranchers
Earlier this summer President Donald Trump signed H.R.1, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, into law. The 887-page piece of legislation narrowly passed the House of Representatives, requiring Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA) to wrangle the Republican caucus to a narrow 215-214 vote. In the Senate, Vice President JD Vance had to cast a tie-breaking vote to secure a 51-50 passage.
Despite its tumultuous journey, the law reflects many provisions that were central to President Trump’s second-term agenda, including spending cuts, sweeping tax reforms and immigration policy changes. For American ranchers and farmers, there were several notable, positive provisions included in the final bill, as well as significant changes from previous iterations.
Withdrawal of proposal to sell federal land
Initially, the House and Senate versions of the bill proposed selling 500,000 and 3.3 million acres of federal land, respectively. For the western United States, this created significant concerns amongst ranchers and conservationists alike, as much of the land in Oregon, Idaho and Nevada is federally owned. Strong bipartisan opposition ultimately led to the removal of this provision, squashing concerns from ranchers who rely on the Bureau of Land Management’s land for grazing.
Estate tax relief for family farms
H.R. permanently codifies the estate tax exemption at $15 million for an individual ($30 million for couples), and indexes it for inflation. Ranchers and farmers would have seen the exemption fall back to $5.5 million on January 1, 2026, which is widely insufficient in today’s economy. Land and equipment prices are higher than ever, and many families would have been faced with shocking tax bills upon transitioning a ranch to the next generation. This provision will help ensure small and mid-size ranches don’t have to sell-off land or other assets to pay the IRS.
Changes to business expensing and depreciation
The new law increases Section 179 small business expensing limits from $1.29 million to $2.5 million, and includes a higher phase-out threshold of $4 million. The Section 179 tax code seeks to improve a business’ cash flow by allowing the business to deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment or property in the year it was purchased. It’s important to note that full-bonus depreciation will not retroactively apply, but it will be an available benefit for any equipment purchased, land improvements or capital projects conducted on farms and ranches in 2025. Effectively, this encourages reinvestment in farm and ranching operations like we’ve never seen before.
Increased agriculture-focused spending
With broad cuts happening to programs and departments across the board, the agricultural sector will actually see a $65.6 billion increase over the next decade (fiscal years 2025-2034). The vast majority of this spending, or $59 billion, is directed toward increased funding for farm safety net programs, including Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC), Price Loss Coverage (PLC), crop insurance, etc. Specific budget notes for some of these programs and focus areas can be found here below:
Crop insurance: $5.98 billion
Disaster assistance programs: $2.8 billion
Agricultural research: $1.6 billion
Trade promotion: $2.2 billion
At Kinger Cattle, we’re thrilled to see concrete policy changes that support our agricultural industry and the hardworking men and women who comprise it. We look forward to the future of agriculture in our great nation and are proud to be a small part of it. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date on policy discussions and changes happening at the federal and state levels.