U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Q: What is the Harvest Fuel Relief program?

A: Midway through harvest season farmers are pinched with high diesel prices that are pushing up operating costs. I’ve pushed the Trump administration to listen to farmers and deliver relief as farmers bring in the crops and the USDA announced targeted assistance through the Harvest Fuel Relief program. This program shows Washington is hearing farmers’ concerns. The federal payments would be similar to the Farmer Bridge Assistance program rolled out earlier this year and administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). According to the USDA, payments will be based on FSA reported planted acres and estimates for cost of production, yields and prices. Previously, the Trump administration announced temporary tax relief for dyed diesel fuel, enabling farmers to use the fuel when bringing crops to market on roadways during this harvest season.

Farmers know the ag economy is cyclical and not immune from natural disasters and foreign affairs. Through no fault of their own, farmers’ bottom lines are getting squeezed by rising input costs brought on by global trade disruption from the Iran war. Earlier this year, I led Iowa’s congressional delegation to successfully get phosphate and potash added to the federal Critical Minerals List to help lower the price of fertilizer. Since my push to lift the Biden Phosphate Duties on Moroccan fertilizer, five additional shipments of phosphate are enroute to the U.S., so far. The Trump administration also announced a $603 million investment in domestic fertilizer production that includes ammonia manufacturing projects in Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Tennessee, Nebraska, Illinois and South Dakota. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I’ve led hearings to examine the fertilizer market and introduced legislation that would require the USDA to study competition trends in the fertilizer market and a fertilizer transparency bill that would give producers access to timely information on prices for fertilizer and fertilizer products. My advocacy will continue to support the livelihoods of family farmers who feed and fuel the world, from lowering production costs, to boosting biofuels and expanding markets.

Q: How is the Working Families Tax Cuts Act helping farmers?

A: As the only crop farmer serving in the U.S. Senate, I pushed hard for tax relief and improvements to the farm safety net enacted last year. Republicans delivered big wins for family farmers in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, which Democrats opposed. Changes in the federal tax code delivered much-needed certainty for family farmers, including:

-Permanent 100% immediate expensing for equipment and higher limits for eligible property under Section179;

-Permanent 20% deduction for farm/business income under Section 199A;

-Deferral of capital gains taxes from the sale of farmland over a four-year window; and,

-Lowered borrowing costs by allowing eligible lenders to exclude 25% of interest income on rural/agriculture loans.

This law also gives generational farms much needed peace of mind that their kids and grandkids won’t have to sell off the land or equipment to pay the federal estate tax. The tax law doubled and permanently indexed to inflation the federal estate tax exemption to help keep family farmers and family-owned small businesses in the family from one generation to the next.

The tax law also made significant improvements to the farm safety net:

-Added an additional 30 million base acres;

-Increased reference prices to calculate Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage payments to reflect cost of farming;

-Boosted conservation program funding;

-Expanded crop insurance options and made coverage more affordable, including enhanced benefits for beginning farmers.

Republicans’ updates to the farm safety net will deliver approximately $1.39 billion to Iowa farmers this year. The enrollment period for federal farm programs for the 2026 crop year runs through Dec. 11, 2026. Enrollment for the 2027 crop year opens Nov. 2, 2026, through March 15, 2027. Contact your local FSA county office for more information.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican farmer from Butler County, is the senior senator from Iowa and the longest-serving U.S. senator in Iowa history.