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The massive budget legislation Republicans are trying to push through the House offers tax and commodity program benefits that are likely to help a broad range of farmers and others in agribusiness.

After weeks of discussion, the House Agriculture Committee is finally ready today to take up its piece of the GOP’s “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill.

The cost of eating at home fell 0.4% in April, seasonally adjusted, on broad price declines throughout the grocery store and an especially sharp drop in egg prices.

A key tax deduction used by farmers and small businesses would be expanded under sweeping tax legislation unveiled by House Republicans Monday, while the 45Z tax credit for biofuels would be extended to 2031 and eased in ways that would benefit domestic ag feedstocks.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the U.S. and China have made “substantial progress” in talks aimed at de-escalating rising trade tensions and indicated the two sides may have struck a deal. The administration is set to provide further details on the state of discussions today.

Farmer sentiment improved in April despite the continued uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and the stiff duties imposed on imports from China, according to the monthly Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

President Donald Trump is proposing to slash non-defense spending by nearly 23% in a fiscal 2026 budget that contains $5 billion in cuts to USDA programs, including agricultural research, international food aid, conservation technical assistance to farmers, and rural development. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again initiative is a clear winner in the White House plan. 

Two major farm equipment manufacturers reported sharply lower sales for the latest quarter as the farm economy continues to struggle and tariffs create uncertainty in the marketplace. An AGCO executive said tariffs “are creating significant demand uncertainty and increased cost for us."

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says USDA will assess market losses from President Donald Trump’s tariffs closer to harvest and then provide aid to producers if it’s necessary. 

Government farm payments have served to increase ag production costs, including cropland values, even as producers have made less on their crops, according to an analysis by economists and farm policy experts at The Ohio State University and the University of Illinois.