By: Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08)
Agri-Pulse

The One Big Beautiful Bill modernizes the tax code to strengthen family farms, rebuild rural economies, and help American agriculture compete and win on the global stage once again.

For more than a century, America’s farmers fed the world and anchored rural communities with resilience, innovation, and hard work. But despite being the world’s agricultural powerhouse, America’s role as a global farming leader diminished because of bad tax and trade policies under the previous administration.

For the final two years under Joe Biden, America ran massive agriculture trade deficits, forcing us to import more farm goods than we export. Not only does this reflect lost opportunities for our farmers, but it also has far-reaching implications for America’s sovereignty.

Central to this package of reforms is a long-overdue fix to the death tax. More than 2 million family-owned farms were on track to see their Death Tax exemption cut in half at the end of this year, putting the future of generational farming at serious risk.

By locking in permanent relief and raising exemption levels, The One Big Beautiful Bill protects farmers from having to sell their land just to pay the IRS. It gives families the freedom to pass down the land they’ve worked for decades from one generation to the next, ensuring agricultural continuity and community stability.

That continuity is further supported by reforms tailored to how America’s farms actually operate. Nearly 98% of U.S. farms are pass-through businesses. The One Big Beautiful Bill permanently protects the 20% small business tax deduction utilized by these farms, shielding them from a sudden spike in their taxes. It also makes 100% immediate expensing permanent, allowing producers to fully deduct the cost of tractors, irrigation systems, grain bins, and other vital infrastructure as early as the year of purchase.

With a doubled Section 179 expensing limit of $2.5 million, farmers are now empowered to immediately reinvest in equipment new or used and innovation on their farm, giving them an upper hand competing in the global marketplace.

The One Big Beautiful Bill renews and realigns the Opportunity Zone program to bring upwards of $100 billion in investment into rural and underserved communities. From small-town main streets to agricultural supply chains, this capital can drive local job creation, infrastructure upgrades, and next-generation food processing facilities—all helping rural America return to being a net exporter of agricultural strength.

It also provides critical tax relief to farm households by blocking an average $2,500 tax hike and nearly 12% increase in overall tax liability, so families can keep more money in their pockets.

At the same time, the bill tears down barriers that have quietly limited growth. By reducing taxes on interest income from farmland loans, it lowers the cost of borrowing for producers, especially young and new farmers looking to get started. It also raises the1099-MISC threshold from $600 to $2,000, cutting red tape for producers who make use of short-term labor. This allows our farmers to focus on producing food instead of IRS paperwork.

The One Big Beautiful Bill also defends American producers from being undercut in their own markets. The bill includes provisions to ensure U.S.-grown crops are not crowded out by foreign imports—especially Chinese cooking oil—in biofuel production. That protects American commodity markets and maintains demand for domestic inputs, which ultimately strengthens the value of what we grow.

Just as fundamental as these market safeguards, the bill recognizes that agricultural productivity begins with the land itself. That’s why it includes tax provisions to help farmland stay in production, reducing the tax burden on working acreage and helping ensure land stays with producers instead of falling into the hands of speculators and misaligned overseas interests.

In total, The One Big Beautiful Bill delivers more than $10 billion in direct tax relief to farmers.
These are not just tax savings that live on a spreadsheet. They represent tangible reinvestments that will flow into the land, labor, and equipment that fuel America’s food production and increase our footprint in foreign markets.

President Donald Trump’s vision has always put America’s heartland first. When tax policy rewards production, protects family farms, and drives investment in rural infrastructure, we give American agriculture the footing it needs to lead again. And now, with support from Trump and congressional Republicans, The One Big Beautiful Bill is rebuilding a path to strength, security, and competitiveness that restores America as the world’s agricultural leader.