As the 2026 legislative session gets underway, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig says the Iowa Farm Act is designed to do more than outline future priorities. The proposal also takes aim at barriers that have made it harder for farmers and agribusinesses to operate, particularly when it comes to tax policy and regulatory complexity.
Naig says many of the tax-related provisions in the Iowa Farm Act are intended to elevate issues that producers have raised repeatedly, while also acknowledging the realities of how legislation moves through the Statehouse.
According to Naig, packaging those provisions together helps bring attention to fairness issues that can otherwise stall or get overlooked when handled individually. He says that includes addressing costs that are ultimately passed back to farmers, as well as updating tax treatment to reflect how modern farm operations and succession plans are structured.
Beyond tax policy, the Iowa Farm Act also looks at broader challenges facing Iowa agriculture, including workforce availability, biosecurity preparedness, and efforts to grow new market opportunities for producers.
Naig says the goal of that broader approach is to strengthen the long-term health of Iowa agriculture by supporting economic opportunity while keeping costs and barriers in check. That includes continuing to build programs that connect Iowa-grown, Iowa-raised, and Iowa-made products with new markets.
While individual provisions within the Iowa Farm Act may ultimately move through different legislative paths, Naig says the package is intended to keep agriculture policy front and center during the session and focused on practical changes that matter to producers across the state.
