Local Beef Marketing Incentive Act of 2026

Local direct-to-market beef subsidy

This bill would create a Local Beef Marketing Subsidy Program run by USDA through the Farm Service Agency. By March 1 each year, the Secretary would decide if the prior calendar year is a subsidy year. A subsidy year would occur when direct-to-market beef sales fell at least 25% versus a 5-year average that excludes the single highest and lowest years. You would be able to apply within one year after the subsidy year if you raise and finish steers or heifers, used a qualifying local processor, and sold at least 50% of your beef direct-to-market that year. Applications would need processor and sales records and a certification. Payments would be for each head slaughtered by a qualifying local processor and sold direct-to-market, and would be paid within 90 days of a qualifying application. Per-head payments would equal 20% of the difference between the 5-year average cattle price (excluding the high and low years) and the subsidy-year price, multiplied by average live weight in hundredweight. Per-head payments could not exceed $500 and total payments to one producer could not exceed $100,000 for a subsidy year. The Secretary would issue implementing rules within 180 days after enactment. The bill would authorize such sums as necessary for fiscal years 2027 through 2031.