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Issues

2025 FEDERAL POLICY PRIORITIES

Farm Bill Priorities

Crop Insurance

  • Crop insurance is a vital component of the farm safety net and should not be diminished or undermined in the Farm Bill or the annual budget or appropriations process. 
  • Support enhancements, including increased premium support for higher coverage levels and increased coverage levels and premium support for the Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) and Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO).
  • Oppose requiring farmers to choose between enhanced crop insurance and ARC/PLC.

Reference Prices

  • Ensure equitable treatment for barley if revisions occur to Reference Prices under the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program; barley should maintain a level of at least 90% of the Reference Price for wheat.
  • Support consideration of Cost of Production when adjusting Reference Prices.

Base Acres

  • NBGA supports a voluntary update to program crop acreage bases.

Marketing Assistance Loans

  • Support enhanced marketing loan rates to address increased borrowing costs.

Research

  • U.S. Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative – increase the authorization for the USDA-ARS U.S. Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative from $15 million to $20 million per year.

Trade

  • Increase authorization of Market Access Program (MAP) to $400 million and Foreign Market Development (FMD) Program to $69 million.

Appropriations

USDA: Agriculture Research Services

  • Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative
    • restore funding to $15 million in FY25 & FY26
  • Barley Pest Initiative (BPI)
    • support full funding of $5.3 million in FY25 & FY26
  • Small Grains Genomic Initiative
    • maintain funding at $3.44 million in FY25 & FY26
  • Resilient Barley Initiative (RBI)
    • Provide first-time funding of $8 million for RBI to address increased resiliency of the barley crop through improved genetics and management

Tax

  • Support the extension of expiring provisions that significantly impact farming operations, including:
  1. Maintaining stepped-up basis
  2. Maintaining estate tax exemption levels or repeal
  3. Making the lower individual tax rates and expanded tax brackets permanent
  4. Making 199A qualified business income deduction permanent
  5. Maintaining Section 179 expensing
  6. Restoring 100% bonus depreciation
  7. Maintaining 1031 like-kind exchanges
  8. Maintaining the 20% capital gains rate
  • Support Ag Investment for America tax credit (see separate one-pager)

Labor

  • H-2A Program
    • The H-2A program is a vital resource to access the labor required to plant and harvest the food we grow. We support legislation to streamline the visa application process and to establish viable wage rates for H-2A temporary ag visa holders and employers.

Tariffs & Supply Chain

  • Mexico and Canada
    • Exclude beer and barley products from any tariffs that would disrupt trade flows within North America.
  • Steel and Aluminum Tariffs
    • Remove tariffs which adversely impact beer producers and result in retaliatory tariffs against U.S. agricultural products.

Health & Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs)

  • Urge the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health & Human Services to uphold the integrity of the DGAs to promote informed and responsible decision-making around alcohol. The agencies should disregard the ICCPUD report in their final assessments for the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines.

Sustainability Statement

Sustainability is inherent for barley growers, many of which have years of experience working the land on family farms that have operated for generations. As farmers, we rely on healthy soil and water and continuous improvements to remain competitive, productive, and profitable.

Barley growers invest in a range of stewardship and best management practices reinforced by lenders, federal farm support programs, and crop insurance. The National Barley Growers Association (NBGA) works with Field to Market to assess and measure environmental impacts of barley production and incorporate barley into the Fieldprint Platform.

The NBGA also supports and advocates for voluntary conservation programs to incentivize growers to implement additional practices to conserve resources and improve environmental outcomes on working lands. Moving forward the organization commits to advocating for research and other programs that will enable barley growers to enhance resiliency in their operations.