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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsIndiana enacted several measures affecting farmers in 2025, including a change to farmland property-tax assessment, a groundwater reporting process, and an online information portal. But a proposed tax credit to encourage retiring farmers to transfer farmland or livestock to qualified beginning farmers was dropped from the final state budget. It did not become an available credit to claim.
What Indiana changed for farmers in 2025
The 2025 measures addressed different problems; they are not interchangeable forms of farm tax relief. The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported on the enacted measures, while Indiana Farm Bureau described the property-tax change and its limits.
| Measure | What it does | Status and significance |
|---|---|---|
| Senate Enrolled Act 1 | Changes the farmland assessment formula for property-tax purposes. Indiana Farm Bureau described the change as raising the farmland capitalization rate from 8% to 9% and phasing in an assessed-value deduction. | Enacted. Farm Bureau said the rate change was temporary and scheduled to sunset in 2027; it did not characterize the change as relief for all farm property. [Indiana Capital Chronicle; Indiana Farm Bureau] |
| Senate Enrolled Act 28 | Establishes a reporting and investigation process involving the Indiana Department of Natural Resources when agricultural and other significant groundwater users may lack usable water. | Enacted. Farm Bureau said the measure addresses a gap affecting irrigation and livestock-water users. [Indiana Capital Chronicle; Indiana Farm Bureau] |
| House Enrolled Act 1149 | Creates an online one-stop portal where farmers can find information such as funding opportunities, regulatory information, and state-agency contacts. | Enacted. The portal is an information-access measure, not a tax benefit. [Indiana Capital Chronicle] |
| SEA 461, HEA 1012, and HEA 1461 | Address, respectively, the Grain Buyers and Warehouse Licensing Agency; notice to landowners of vehicle-accident property damage; and local infrastructure funding and tax options. | The Indiana Capital Chronicle identified these as passed measures supported by agricultural groups. They are agriculture-adjacent provisions, not the proposed beginning-farmer credit. [Indiana Capital Chronicle] |
Why the farmland tax change was not complete relief
Farm Bureau supported the farmland assessment change but warned that shifts in the tax base could increase taxes on farm buildings and permanent structures even as farmland real-property taxes received some relief. Its public-policy director described the result as incomplete. The organization’s executive director of public policy, Andy Tauer, said members had seen property-tax bills rise 60% over three years while net farm incomes fell; that is an attributed Farm Bureau statement, not an independently audited measure here. [Indiana Farm Bureau]
The retiring-farmer tax credit was proposed, then dropped
Governor Mike Braun called for a tax credit to encourage retiring farmers to pass farms to the next generation in his 2025 State of the State address. Representative Kendell Culp introduced House Bill 1191, which proposed an adjusted-gross-income tax credit for transfers to qualified beginning farmers. The Legislative Services Agency’s fiscal note for the bill as introduced described qualifying transfers involving farmland or livestock and a cap of $1 million in credits in each state fiscal year. Those were proposed terms, not an enacted benefit. [Governor’s 2025 State of the State address; Indiana General Assembly, HB 1191; Legislative Services Agency fiscal note]
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The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported that HB 1191 was removed from the final two-year budget. A later Senate-budget version included a beginning-farmer credit modeled after Ohio’s program, but that language was also dropped in final negotiations. The official bill listing marks HB 1191 inactive. On the evidence available for the 2025 session, the proposed credit was not available to claim. [Indiana Capital Chronicle; Indiana General Assembly, HB 1191]
Why lawmakers did not include it in the final budget
The Indiana Capital Chronicle attributed the credit’s removal to budget pressure after an April fiscal forecast showed $2 billion less revenue than expected. That figure is the news report’s account of the forecast; it should not be read as an independently verified forecast figure here. [Indiana Capital Chronicle]
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why farm succession was part of the debate
The proposed credit addressed a generational handoff: getting farmland or livestock from retiring farmers to people who qualify as beginning farmers. American Farmland Trust’s Midwest policy manager, Claire Shipp, told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that “Keeping farmland in the hands of farmers is not just a private benefit — it is a public good.”
The Capital Chronicle also reported that more than 34% of Hoosier farmers were over age 65, attributing the statistic to Shipp. The article did not identify the underlying dataset, so the figure is best understood as a reported statistic rather than a standalone authoritative estimate. [Indiana Capital Chronicle]
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What farmers and landowners should take away
- The farmland assessment change, groundwater process, and farmer information portal were enacted measures with distinct purposes.
- The proposed beginning-farmer tax credit did not survive final budget negotiations; the fiscal note’s $1 million annual cap and transfer rules describe HB 1191 as introduced, not a credit taxpayers can claim.
- Farm Bureau’s account supports treating the farmland property-tax change as partial relief, with possible effects on buildings and permanent structures.
- The sources cited here establish the bill’s inactive status and the 2025 session outcome; they do not establish whether a later successor proposal was introduced or enacted.
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