Congress raises farm-payment caps for agriculture-dependent operators
H.R. 2156 — Fair Access to Agriculture Disaster Programs Act · Filed by Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) · 13 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 14, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the Food Security Act to create an exception to payment limits for farmers and ranchers whose primary income (≥75%) comes from agriculture. Currently, federal disaster and commodity programs cap payments to individuals and entities; this bill exempts those who derive most of their income from farming, ranching, or silviculture from those caps, allowing them to receive larger disaster and farm-support payments.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to carve out an exception to existing payment limitations for agriculture-dependent persons and entities, allowing them to receive larger federal disaster and commodity payments. This is a targeted regulatory exemption benefiting a specific sector.
What the text implies
- The 75% income-derivation test may incentivize farmers to structure income reporting to qualify for the exemption, potentially creating compliance complexity and audit risk.
- The exemption applies to 'excepted payments' under the 2014 Agricultural Act and 1996 FAIR Act — the scope of those programs is not restated here, so the full financial exposure depends on what those statutes authorize.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
farmers and ranchers deriving ≥75% income from agriculture; agricultural entities (partnerships, corporations, trusts) meeting the income test; larger-scale agricultural operations