Row Crops Today — May the 4th be with you, 2026
The 5-minute 5 AM brief for row crop producers and ag professionals
Headline Stack
📋 Farm Bill clears House 224–200; Senate unlikely to act before planting ends
🏦 OBBBA rewrites payment limits for LLCs, but FSA county offices apply old rules
🌧️ Level 2 severe risk Tuesday–Wednesday across Missouri, Iowa, Illinois
📋 USDA opens Grassland CRP enrollment today; sign-up closes May 29
Top Story
📋 Farm Bill clears House 224–200; Senate unlikely to act before planting ends. — LINK
The U.S. House passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567) by a vote of 224–200, with 14 Democrats voting in favor and 3 Republicans voting against, sending the first major farm bill rewrite since 2018 to the Senate. Industry experts told the Telegraph Herald the Senate is unlikely to take up the bill before producers are well into planting, leaving unresolved provisions on ethanol and fertilizer in legislative limbo. The bill reauthorizes key USDA programs through 2031, expands producer credit access, and modifies crop insurance. "I was proud to lead the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, and I am extremely pleased to see this bill pass with a strong bipartisan vote. An updated farm bill that meets the current needs of our farmers and ranchers is long overdue, and this is a significant step toward getting farm country back on track," said Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. The currently enacted Farm Bill, signed in 2018, has been operating under successive extensions since its scheduled 2023 expiration.
More This Week
🏦 OBBBA rewrites LLC payment limits; FSA offices applying old rules. — LINK
The "One Big Beautiful Bill" Act allows individual members of LLCs and S corporations to qualify for separate farm program payment limits, replacing the prior one-entity, one-limit cap, but many county FSA offices are still applying the previous standard.
"Many local Farm Service Agency offices are still applying the previous 'one-entity, one-limit' standard," according to agricultural tax and law specialist Roger McEowen and his colleague Paul Neiffer.
Each individual within an LLC or S corporation must now meet the "Actively Engaged in Farming" standard — providing proportional labor, management, or capital — a verification step that has slowed county-level rollout pending further guidance from state and national leadership.
🌧️ Level 2 severe risk Tuesday–Wednesday across Midwest planting belt. — LINK
A Level 2 of 5 severe-storm threat is in effect Tuesday and Wednesday across Oklahoma, Arkansas and the Ark-La-Tex, with widespread 2–3 inch rainfall and localized 3–5 inch totals expected across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.
"Large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes will all be possible," said FOX Weather meteorologists Melanie Black and Michael Estime, citing a deepening low-pressure system over the Plains and a strengthening low-level jet.
Sunday's Level 1 of 5 risk covers northern Missouri, southeast Iowa and central Illinois; a Level 1 flash-flood risk runs from eastern Tennessee to southern Indiana on Tuesday.
📋 USDA opens Grassland CRP enrollment today; deadline May 29. — LINK
USDA's Farm Service Agency opened Grassland CRP enrollment May 4 with a sign-up deadline of May 29, 2026 — a 25-day window for producers and private landowners.
Grassland CRP is a voluntary working lands conservation program that allows participants to conserve grasslands while continuing most grazing and haying practices, according to USDA.
The program is administered through county FSA offices and runs concurrent with the active spring planting window across the Great Plains and Corn Belt.
Basis Watch
This Friday, May 1st, old-crop corn basis firmed 15 cents at the top end in North Dakota North Central, the largest corn move of the session. Nebraska Northeast and Iowa Northwest each strengthened 5 to 6 cents on old-crop July, and Kentucky Bluegrass improved 6 cents on the May contract. On new-crop, Colorado North Central firmed 10 cents at the low end of its December range. Most other Corn Belt locations posted changes of 3 cents or less.
Old-crop soybean basis told a stronger story. North Dakota North Central strengthened 50 cents at the top end, and Nebraska Southwest firmed 16 cents. The 25-cent improvement in Missouri North Central was well above the 4 to 10 cent range seen across Iowa, Illinois, and the rest of Missouri.
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