Farm Support Services NAICS 1151, 1152

Jan 30, 2026 - More Farm Aid Coming?

• A potential $15 billion second-round farm aid package proposed by Republicans from agricultural states, reported by Politico, would have meaningful implications for farmers and farm support service providers. Expanded federal assistance typically drives higher activity across input, advisory, and operational services. The additional aid comes after the Trump administration’s December announcement of $11 billion in aid for row crop farmers and $1 billion for specialty crop farmers. The second round of farm aid would include money designated for specialty crop producers, who asked for more assistance after the Trump administration’s initial farm aid launch. If passed, the package would inject liquidity into farms facing cost pressures, enabling producers to resume or expand spending on agronomy services, equipment maintenance, precision ag tools, and outsourced labor. Service providers that work closely with specialty crop operations, which often require more labor‑intensive and technical support, stand to see the largest near‑term lift.
• Economists at the University of Illinois warn that the long‑standing growth model of expanding row‑crop operations through high‑rent acres is no longer financially viable, Farm Journal reports. With corn near $4, soybeans at $10.50, and 2025 cash rents averaging $227–$274/acre across the Midwest, break‑evens now exceed market prices. Budgets for 2026 show negative returns of $17 per acre overall and minus $32/acre on rented acres, creating sustained negative margins, especially for younger farmers without owned land to subsidize losses. For farm support services firms, this signals a shift in client needs: farmers will scrutinize every rented acre, demand tighter cost control, and seek guidance on budgeting, risk management, and operational efficiency. Established farms may still invest in advisory services as they reevaluate land portfolios, but expansion‑driven service demand will weaken as traditional acreage‑growth strategies become infeasible.

• Leading indicators for the farm sector’s financial health all show elevated risk, according to the latest report from the Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center. The report tracks 14 financial indicators organized in four classes: Farmer and banker sentiment; Farm income and balance sheet health; Farm machinery market dynamics; and Credit quality. The risk rating (on a 1-10 scale, with 1 being low risk and 10 high risk) is 6.2. The farm machinery market showed the biggest signs of deterioration, with a risk rating of 5.7, while farm income and balance sheet health, and credit quality carry a risk rating of 5.8 each, and farmer and banker sentiment at 5.9. The forecast shows a decline in net cash income for the two crop farm business types: a 1% decline for specialty crops farm businesses and a 14.8% drop for corn farm businesses.
• The FDA’s conditional approval of Merck’s EXZOLT CATTLE‑CA1 provides cattle producers with a critically needed tool to combat New World Screwworm (NWS), a parasite contributing to historically low US herd levels, CNBC reported in December. With the US-Mexico border closed to live‑animal imports due to the NWS outbreak, ranchers have lost access to more than one million calves annually, tightening supply and raising production costs. The topical treatment offers 21 days of protection and also targets fever ticks, helping producers limit losses and avoid further herd decline. However, the drug’s 98‑day meat withholding period and multi‑year timeline for parasite control mean producers will still face elevated biological and financial risk in the near term. As cattle shortages drive plant closures and volatile beef prices, the treatment provides ranchers with a valuable defensive tool, but not an immediate solution to supply pressures or market instability.