The Senate Agriculture committee introduced its draft of Farm Bill 2.0 this week.
The Senate's Farm Bill 2.0 comes after the House took the first major step in late April by a vote of 224 to 200. It prioritized more money for farmers, changes to SNAP requirements, and fewer regulations on agriculture. Now, Senate lawmakers are working to craft their own version.
Transcript
Sen. John Boozman, R - Arkansas: “Today, I’m proud to release the Agriculture Act of 2026.”
The Senate Agriculture committee introduced its draft of the Farm Bill this week. This comes after the House took the first major step in late April by a vote of 224 to 200. It prioritized more money for farmers, changes to SNAP requirements, and fewer regulations on agriculture. Now, Senate lawmakers are working to craft their own version.
Sen. John Boozman, R - Arkansas: “My goal is to advance a bill that can earn broad bipartisan support and deliver meaningful results to rural America.”
The Senate Farm Bill 2.0 draft includes enhancing financial safety nets for farmers, upgrading rural infrastructure, and updating loan limits to reflect current inflation. It aims to strengthen crop insurance and boost rural broadband while omitting provisions on year-round E15, the hog industry’s Prop 12, and pesticide labeling.
Jonathan Coppess, Agriculture Policy & Law, University of Illinois: “We’re now three years delayed from when the reauthorization should have happened and they made, I think, some really concerning policy decisions last summer. And since that time, we have had these massive market disruptions, the trade wars with China and the tariff conflicts, and now the war in Iran, and the Strait of Hormuz problems. There’s a whole lot going on that this bill is not, that we could have done years ago. I guess my frustration is we’re missing the moment. We’re missing the moment, the challenges farmers are facing and they’re not addressing them. “
Many commodity groups applaud the text attempting to deliver more certainty and help strengthen the farm safety net. However, some House lawmakers have concerns about the Senate’s Farm Bill draft.
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minnesota: “If the improvements made to the farm safety net were so strong, then why are farmers asking for supplemental farm assistance?”
While significant policy differences remain between the House and Senate versions, farm organizations nationwide are expressing their hopes that after multiple extensions and years of debate, Congress will deliver a long-term farm bill that provides certainty for rural America.
Jonathan Coppess, Agriculture Policy & Law, University of Illinois: “I think it’s one of these times I think we should and want to expect more and better from our representatives in Congress to really tackle these problems head on and not just push this down the road, and kind of press release their way out of it.”
The current extension of the 2018 Farm Bill expires this September. For Market to Market, I’m Laurel Bower.
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