Congress expands crop insurance subsidies for beginning and veteran farmers
H.R. 2117 — Crop Insurance for Future Farmers Act · Filed by Randy Feenstra (R-IA) · 14 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 14, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill extends the definition of 'beginning farmer' and 'veteran farmer' from 5 crop years to 10 crop years under federal crop insurance law, and increases the premium subsidy those farmers receive for their first decade of participation—15 percentage points for years 1–2, stepping down to 10 percentage points by year 5 and beyond. The effect is to make more farmers eligible for these support programs and to give them larger subsidies for longer.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a direct increase in federal premium subsidies for a defined farmer cohort (beginning and veteran farmers), extended over a longer eligibility window. This is a subsidy expansion, not a regulatory change or accountability measure.
What the text implies
- The bill does not specify total cost or appropriations; the fiscal impact depends on how many farmers qualify under the expanded 10-year definition and how much the increased subsidy percentages will cost the federal crop insurance program annually.
- Extending the 'beginning farmer' definition from 5 to 10 years may create a longer period of federal support dependency, potentially delaying the transition to full-cost insurance participation.
- The conforming amendment striking Section 522(c)(7)(F) is not explained in the bill text; its effect depends on what that provision currently says, which is not disclosed here.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Beginning and veteran farmers gain direct federal subsidy support, which may lower their insurance costs and improve farm viability—a public benefit if it strengthens agricultural resilience and rural livelihoods. However, the bill does not specify funding source or total cost, and crop insurance subsidies are already substantial federal expenditures; the net public benefit depends on whether this targeted support yields measurable agricultural or economic returns that justify the cost, which th
Who stands to gain
- beginning farmers and ranchers (direct subsidy recipients)
- veteran farmers and ranchers (direct subsidy recipients)
Named in the bill
Federal Crop Insurance Act, USDA (implied administrator), beginning farmers and ranchers, veteran farmers and ranchers
Where it stands
14 cosponsors: 9 Democrats, 5 Republicans.
- Mar 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 14, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $180,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 24 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Randy Feenstra, the sponsor, reported $570,750 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Farmers Educational Cooperative Union of America — $180,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,300 characters) on Jun 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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