Agriculture is at the heart of rural communities across the United States, especially here in West Texas. Every day, farmers and ranchers take on the enormous responsibility of feeding and clothing the world, and our job is only getting harder.
Today, farmers and ranchers make up less than 2% of the U.S. population. On top of a shrinking workforce, we navigate volatile markets, rising input costs, and the daily challenges of weather uncertainty. These pressures are impacting families and operations like mine in West Texas and across the nation.
The numbers tell the story best. Since 2022, net farm income has fallen by 24%, a loss of roughly $48 billion, forcing many farms and ranches to shut down. Commodity crop receipts across the agriculture sector are also facing sharp declines, with corn down 21% and cotton down 27%.
At the same time, ever-increasing input costs continue to drag down various operations across the nation. Total farm production expenses climbed to a record $473 billion in 2025, and farm sector debt is projected to rise to $624.7 billion in 2026. To top it all off, natural disasters such as wildfires, droughts and floods are wiping out agricultural infrastructure and causing massive livestock and crop losses.
Despite these challenges, farmers and ranchers continue to persevere, and now, meaningful support is finally coming thanks to the Working Families Tax Cuts that congressional Republicans delivered, and President Trump signed into law last July.
For starters, this critical legislation delivered historic investments to strengthen the farm safety net and protect America’s food, fuel, and fiber industry.
Key programs like crop insurance, Dairy Margin Coverage, Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage received a major boost, including a $54 billion modernization of ARC and PLC to reflect market realities, and nearly $6 billion in enhanced crop insurance premium support.
Over $2 billion was also invested to expand American producers’ access to essential export markets. In total, Texas producers stand to save an estimated $624.4 million due to the expansion of crop insurance coverage and $5.8 billion more from expanded risk protection coverage through PLC and ARC.
This legislation also addresses reference prices for major American commodities, raising them between 10% and 21% to better reflect today’s economic realities and help keep producers financially viable.
Just as important, farm bill commodity provisions and risk-management programs were extended through 2031, providing agricultural producers with much-needed price certainty for their products rather than continuing the guessing game that leads farms to question the standing of their operation year after year.
Disaster assistance was another critical priority. In regions like West Texas that are constantly plagued by the challenges of extreme weather, from wildfires and droughts to floods and blizzards, expanded disaster assistance programs now provide broader security for farmers and ranchers. This ensures producers have a safety net when dealing with the most unpredictable factor in their operation: the weather.
Our district is home to the largest sheep and goat producers in the United States. Through this legislation, I am thankful that the Sheep Production and Marketing Grant Program received $3 million in new mandatory funding for fiscal year 2026, a significant increase over prior funding levels. This is vital for the success of sheep producers across our region and allows our operations to continue providing high-quality wool products to the world.
Various other provisions in the Working Families Tax Cuts also directly assist livestock producers in maintaining the vitality of their operations. Animal agriculture health was another major priority in the legislation due to the ongoing threat of New World Screwworm.
By providing $233 million annually from FY 2026 through FY 2030 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to carry out a new three-pronged animal health approach, this legislation helps prevent animal diseases from wreaking havoc on the livestock sector of agriculture and better protects the supply chain of livestock-related products.
The federal estate tax exemption was also permanently set at $15 million per person and $30 million per married couple to protect the legacy of family farms and ranches from being sold during a generational transfer or after the owner of the operation has passed away.
This protects over 220,000 family farms across our state from the death tax that makes numerous generational agricultural operations inoperable. It also restored a 100% bonus depreciation, allowing agricultural producers to immediately write off investments for necessary equipment and agricultural infrastructure for their operations.
It’s simple: this legislation is helping American agriculture recover and gives farmers and ranchers the confidence to continue providing the food, fiber and fuel that power our growing nation. These groundbreaking provisions are bolstering the agriculture sector and allowing family farms and ranches to weather difficult swings.
We are so proud to have generational operations across West Texas, and this legislation will help people like me maintain their legacy. Ranching is in my blood, and I am incredibly thankful for the support this legislation will provide for my family and me for generations to come.
(This story was updated to add a photo.)
John Ross Copeland is the Coke-Sterling County Farm Bureau president and a fifth generation farmer and rancher from Sterling City. He and his family raise cattle and sheep and grow crops in Coke, Sterling, Scurry and San Saba counties.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Working families tax cuts strengthen American agriculture | Opinion
Reporting by John Ross Copeland, Coke-Sterling County Farm Bureau president, farmer and rancher / San Angelo Standard-Times
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