On July 4, 2025, President Trump formally signed the multi-billion-dollar reconciliation bill titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”) into law. The new law includes several provisions typically associated with the Farm Bill, the omnibus spending bill that governs various agricultural and food programs in the United States. The OBBBA includes provisions related to agricultural commodity programs, nutrition programs, tax policies, and conservation programs.
The following is an overview of the conservation measures included in the OBBBA that are relevant to agriculture, and a collection of further resources on other agriculture-related OBBBA provisions.
Conservation Programs
The OBBBA will continue to authorize billions of dollars in funding for several of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (“USDA”) voluntary conservation programs. These programs are primarily implemented through USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (“NRCS”) and exist as an option to help farmers and ranchers address environmental resource concerns on private lands. The programs are voluntary and typically require participants to adopt more environmentally focused land management practices in exchange for financial compensation.
In 2022, Congress passed, and President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”). Under that law, conservation programs received around $18 billion in federal funding. Four programs – Environmental Quality Incentives Program (“EQIP”), Conservation Stewardship Program (“CSP”), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (“ACEP”) and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (“RCPP”) – received funding through the IRA and were authorized to continue running through fiscal year 2031. Importantly, conservation program funding through the IRA was supplemental and not part of the Farm Bill baseline. This means that the conservation funding authorized under the IRA would need to be spent by the end of fiscal year 2031, and leftover funding would not be incorporated into the baseline budget of future Farm Bills. Additionally, much of the money appropriated for conservation programs under the IRA was specifically set aside to fund conservation practices that are aimed at improving soil carbon, reducing nitrogen losses, and sequestering carbon dioxide. A more detailed break down of conservation funding under the IRA is available here.
The OBBBA redirected much of the conservation funding authorized by the IRA to the permanent Farm Bill baseline. By doing so, the OBBBA makes the funding permanent, meaning that unspent funding will not expire at the end of fiscal year 2031. Additionally, the OBBBA removed language from the IRA specifically designating conservation program funding for practices intended to address nitrogen and carbon concerns. In total, the OBBBA authorizes $18.5 billion for EQIP, $8.1 billion for CSP, $4.1 billion for ACEP, and $2.7 billion for RCPP. The bill also renewed some smaller conservation initiatives that were not funded under the last Farm Bill extension. Those initiatives include the Grassroots Source Water Protection program which is aimed at preventing pollution in rural drinking water, and the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive program which provides financial incentives to private landowners that make their property open to the public for hunting, fishing, and wildlife observation.
OBBBA Resource Round Up
Funding for conservation programs is far from the only agricultural provision included in the OBBBA. The following is a collection of resources discussing the various ways in which the OBBBA will impact agriculture.
An in-depth look from NALC at changes the OBBBA made to nutrition programs is available here.
NALC partner, the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation at Iowa State University have put together a look at the tax package included in the OBBA, available here.
NALC partner, the Ohio State University Farm Office, has put together an overview of Farm Bill programs included in the OBBA, located here.
The Congressional Research Service has also put out a variety of reports that examine various provisions of the OBBBA. One report, available here, covers the estate and gift tax provisions of the OBBBA, while another report, located here, provides an overview of certain horticultural programs effected by the bill. The report available here, although written a month before the OBBBA’s final passage, provides an overview of conservation funding changes made in the bill. Additionally, a report located here provides an overview of fiscal year 2025 appropriations made for Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related agencies.