This Policy Report column was first published by Nebraska Farmer on Feb. 6, 2026, and is excerpted here by permission.
At a Glance
- The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act extended commodity programs, boosted crop insurance, adjusted conservation spending, and reworked food assistance
- Programs outside the core safety net were largely left out and extended for just one more year
- U.S. farm programs trace back to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933
- The 1949 farm bill remains permanent law, creating pressure for Congress to act before expiration
- Modern farm bills shifted from price supports to income support and paired farm policy with food assistance starting in 1973
When Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, it included a partial fix for the farm bill that was originally due for renewal in 2023 but had been repeatedly extended for a year at a time, as work on a new bill failed to generate much progress.
The act included language that extended and strengthened the commodity program safety net, increased support for crop insurance, restructured spending for conservation, and addressed reforms or cuts (depending on your political perspective) in food assistance programs.
While those four categories account for 99% of traditional farm bill spending, the other eight titles in the farm bill and some related provisions were left by the wayside. Ultimately, they had to be extended for yet another year to keep programs in place and set the stage for a renewed farm bill debate in 2026.
How it came to be
With producer interest focused on the specific changes in commodity program and crop insurance provisions, it can be easy to overlook the broader trends in farm policy and farm bill deliberations. A longer look back at farm bill development over time helps explain why we are where we are and what direction we could go from here.
By the time the newly extended commodity programs expire in 2031, federal farm programs will have been in place for nearly 100 years. The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 was the first official farm bill passed amid the Great Depression as part of the New Deal programs of President Franklin Roosevelt.
There had been calls for farm assistance for many years prior and even proposed legislation in the 1920s, but the 1933 act was the first to be formally implemented. While a fundamental goal of farm policy has been to support farm income, the 1933 act initiated an era of price support and supply control policies that attempted to restrict supplies to prop up prices and ultimately support farm income.
There were numerous farm bills throughout the following decades, but the Agricultural Act of 1949 stands out in particular as the last farm bill to be implemented without an expiration date. It is known as the last of the permanent legislation and serves as a reminder to address farm bill legislation before it expires under the threat of farm programs from 1949 taking effect for the next crop year.
The 1949 legislation is neither economically nor politically feasible in the modern era. But so as long as the permanent legislation remains on the books, it serves as a hammer to ensure something gets done, even if it is sometimes late or just an extension of current policy.
Income support era
The price support and supply control era gradually gave way to the income support era. As agriculture became more globally connected through increased trade and international competition, restricting domestic production or supplies was both a costly and ineffective method of support prices.
Modern farm bills, starting with Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973, shifted toward programs that directly supported income instead of prices. The target price and deficiency payment program still established a price support level, but it worked by allowing markets to clear and simply paying the difference between support prices and market prices.
The 1973 act was also noteworthy as the first farm bill to marry together farm support and food assistance funding. Food interest groups focused on hunger, food security and food assistance had been working for policies including food distribution and food stamp pilot programs over the previous decades. They came together in 1973 to join a farm and food coalition that has generally been a hallmark of farm bill development ever since.
