House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) released the following statement after releasing the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026:A new farm bill is long overdue, and the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 is an important step forward in providing certainty to our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. We made historic agricultural investments last summer in the Working Families Tax Cuts (H.R. 1), but there are many key policy components that remain to be addressed. With that in mind, the House Committee on Agriculture will begin marking up a new farm bill February 23. To read the full story, click here. The following is Ag groups reactions to this news.
National Pork Producers Council: “Thank You, Chairman Thompson, for Standing Up for Pork Producers”
U.S. pork producers are one step closer to critical regulatory certainty—and consumers closer to keeping pork affordable—with House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson’s (R-PA) Farm Bill 2.0, which includes a federal fix to the massive issues caused by the impending and disastrous patchwork of state laws spurred by California Proposition 12.
“America’s pork producers thank Chairman Thompson for continuing to take bold steps once again to protect our livelihoods from an unsustainable patchwork of state laws,” said National Pork Producers Council President Duane Stateler, a pork producer from McComb, Ohio. “We implore the full House Agriculture Committee to stand up for the American farmer, preserve states’ rights, and help keep pork affordable for the American consumers.”
Chairman Thompson and other leaders in D.C. remain dedicated to protecting producers’ freedom to farm by finding a solution to Prop. 12, which has spurred a variety of problems from the farmgate to families’ plates, including:
- Trampling on states’ rights: Prop. 12 sets a precedent that undermines the foundation of interstate commerce, allowing a single state to dictate how food is produced across the country—even when that food is produced outside its borders. Fixing Prop. 12 protects the rights of states by allowing each the exclusive right to regulate how livestock are produced within their borders.
- In passing Prop. 12, California violated Congress’ exclusive constitutional authority to regulate interstate commerce. Congressional action to fix the chaos caused by Prop. 12 is rooted in Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution: “The Congress shall have the power … To regulate commerce … among the several states” (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3).
- Setting the stage for a patchwork of 50 state laws, dictating different versions of animal housing laws, which all producers—no matter the state they farm in— must comply with if they want to sell their pork to all consumers.
- NPPC Vice President and Ohio pork producer Pat Hord, who has retrofitted his barns to be Prop. 12-compliant, has told Congress that compliance does not future-proof farmers from more financial burdens if patchwork laws are not addressed. “Whatever I do today could need to be changed when a new state decides they want a different housing standard,” Hord says. “These are expensive changes, and some farmers may exit the business amid this uncertainty, which increases consolidation.”
- Leading to industry consolidation, potentially crushing small and medium-sized farms: While even large farms cannot sustain ongoing changes to sow housing laws, they are more likely to be able to afford the initial changes mandated by Prop. 12. Contrarily, smaller and independent producers often cannot. This means fewer family farms and reduced competition across the industry.
- In the first quarter of 2025, 12% of small pork operations (<500 sows) exited the market or shifted production away from breeding due to compliance costs and uncertainty, according to USDA.
- Ignoring expert veterinary advice and chipping away at sound veterinary options: The American Veterinary Medical Association says Prop. 12 does “not objectively improve animal welfare and may unintentionally cause harm.”
- The housing requirement established by Prop. 12 is arbitrary, lacks a scientific or animal welfare foundation, and disregards the expertise of producers and veterinarians whose professional responsibility is to safeguard animal health.
- Making pork less affordable at the grocery store: The latest data shows increased retail prices in California are still more than 20% higher than before Prop. 12 took effect.
- Causing problems with trading partners: Under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, for example, states are not permitted to create non-tariff barriers to trade.
A fix for Prop. 12 is backed by nearly 1,000 agriculture groups across more than 40 states, including the American Farm Bureau Federation.
NCC Statement on Thompson’s Farm, Food, and National Security Act
The National Cotton Council (NCC) applauds House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson for releasing the Farm, Food, and National Security Act, which includes a wide range of farm bill provisions that were unable to be included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). “Thanks to Chairman Thompson’s tireless work, we were fortunate to see much of the farm bill signed into law as part of the OBBBA,” said NCC Chairman Nathan Reed, “but now is the time to finish the job. Passage of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act would significantly benefit the cotton industry by safeguarding the marketing loan program during future shutdowns, advancing the effort to create a harvest incentive insurance option, and providing a commonsense regulatory framework for crop protection products.” The NCC urges bipartisan support for the Farm, Food, and National Security Act and stands ready to work with House and Senate leadership to secure final passage this year.
Statement from NCFC President and CEO Duane Simpson on Release of Draft Farm Bill
The following is a statement from Duane Simpson, President and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC), regarding the release of the House Agriculture Committee’s draft Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026: “The release of a draft farm bill is an important and welcome step forward for farmers, co-ops, and rural America. Finishing the farm bill process started in last year’s reconciliation is overdue, and we appreciate Chairman Thompson’s leadership in moving this process ahead. “Farmer co-ops rely on strong risk management tools, effective conservation and trade programs, and policies that support investment and innovation across rural communities. This draft reflects meaningful progress in a number of areas that matter to our members and reauthorizes a number of critical programs left out the reconciliation process. “As the House Agriculture Committee moves toward markup later this month, we look forward to working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and hope to see amendments considered and approved on issues that are particularly important to farmer cooperatives. “NCFC remains committed to supporting a strong, bipartisan farm bill that gives farmers and the cooperatives they own the certainty they need to plan, invest, and continue feeding and fueling the country.”
Landmark Common Names Bill Included in New Farm Bill Language
The Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN) praised Chairman GT Thompson and the House Agriculture Committee for including the Safeguarding American Food and Export Trade Yields (SAFETY) Act in its Farm Bill legislative text released today.
Co-sponsored in the House by Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-SD, Jim Costa, D-CA, Michelle Fischbach, R-MN, and Jimmy Panetta, D-CA, and in the Senate by Sens. John Thune, R-SD, Tammy Baldwin, D-WI, Roger Marshall, R-KS, and Tina Smith, D-MN, the bipartisan SAFETY Act would establish a long-term policy directive for USDA to partner with the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to prioritize the protection of common names like “parmesan” and “bologna” in international trade negotiations. Enactment of the SAFETY Act would offer an important complement to the Administration’s decisive actions over the past year to protect U.S. exporters’ rights to use common food names.
“For too long, the European Union has weaponized geographical indication policies to tilt the playing field against U.S. producers,” said Jaime Castaneda, executive director of CCFN. “Recent trade negotiations have finally reversed that trend. The Farm Bill language ensures that this policy continues to be a priority for the U.S. government for years to come. We appreciate Chairman Thompson, the House Agriculture Committee and our bipartisan Congressional champions of the SAFETY Act for their leadership in sending a clear signal that the United States needs to establish a lasting policy ensuring our producers do not lose market access and opportunities in the future.”
Since 2009, the European Union has leveraged trade negotiations and its geographical indication (GI) system to claim widely used food names for the exclusive benefit of its own producers—effectively restricting competition and monopolizing certain products in key markets. For American farmers and manufacturers, this has meant lost export opportunities abroad and costly legal and commercial disputes at home. In recent years, the EU has intensified these efforts by pressuring third-party countries to adopt EU-style GI protections as part of their trade agreements, further limiting the ability of U.S. producers to compete globally.
Castaneda continued, “When foreign governments adopt restrictive GI policies under EU pressure, American producers pay the price. The SAFETY Act is about supporting current efforts to establish a clear U.S. government policy focused on ensuring that widely used food names remain available to those who have earned the right to use them.”
EWG: In betrayal of MAHA, House GOP farm bill exposes kids to pesticides
House Republicans’ newly released farm bill proposal would undermine public health, environmental protection and food security, while handing sweeping new protections to pesticide manufacturers at the expense of children and communities.
The proposal fails to restore the deep cuts to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that Republicans and the Trump administration pushed through last year. The cuts threaten food access for millions of struggling families.
House Republicans also included an alarming and controversial provision that would erase state and local pesticide safety laws that protect people, especially children, from exposure to toxic chemicals at schools, playgrounds and parks.
More than 40 states, including Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina and Texas, have adopted commonsense rules governing when and how pesticides can be sprayed near parks, playgrounds and schools. These safeguards reflect local conditions, public health science, and the voices of parents, educators and communities.
The House Republican proposal would wipe out those protections nationwide.
This move to block state and local authority is being pushed by foreign pesticide manufacturers, including Bayer-Monsanto and ChemChina. If enacted, this partisan bill would boost pesticide sales while limiting accountability when people are harmed from exposure to toxic crop chemicals.
The following is a statement from Geoff Horsfield, legislative director at the Environmental Working Group.
House Republicans can’t credibly claim to back an agenda that supports public health or protects kids while advancing a bill that weakens protections from pesticides and hands more power and profits to foreign pesticide manufacturers.
Congress should not be in the business of stripping states of their right to protect children from toxic chemicals. This provision would silence parents, override local decision-making, and put corporate profits ahead of kids’ health.
No parent should have to wonder whether the school playground is contaminated with pesticides. Yet that is exactly what this bill would force families to do.
Rather than weakening protections for children, gutting conservation programs and denying nutrition assistance to hungry families, Congress should be strengthening safeguards that support public health, environmental sustainability and rural communities.
ASA Welcomes House Ag Action on 2026 Farm Bill
The American Soybean Association commends the House Agriculture Committee on advancing the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. “We appreciate that Chairman Thompson heard the concerns and needs of soybean farmers and addressed them in the bill,” said Scott Metzger, ASA president and a soybean farmer from Ohio. “The provisions included will provide much-needed market and regulatory certainty for producers facing new risks and difficult business decisions.” Over the past two years, ASA has advocated for strengthening the farm bill to meet the pressing needs of soybean farmers. The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 includes significant enhancements to improve access to credit, meaningful investments to promote expansion and diversification of markets, and support for vital provisions such as the BioPreferred Program, pesticide labeling uniformity, full access to domestic markets for the meat products of our livestock customers, and investments in precision agriculture. Strengthening the farm bill is critical for the future of U.S. soybeans, and ASA stands ready to work with lawmakers to advance this legislation and help stabilize today’s challenging farm economy.
Farm Credit Applauds House Farm Bill 2.0 Draft
Farm Credit today issued the following statement regarding the release of The Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 by the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture:
“Farm Credit applauds Chairman Thompson and the House Agriculture Committee for their work to produce The Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026. While H.R. 1 addressed certain agricultural needs, many policies were not addressed and remain stuck in 2018. It is critical that policies – especially those impacting credit availability – are updated to provide certainty and growth opportunities for farmers, ranchers and rural communities.
“The draft released today incorporates vital bipartisan marker bills that are important to Farm Credit and the producers we serve. Most notably, this draft legislation includes policies to modernize Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan limits and programs, expand access to credit for young and beginning producers, and strengthen rural communities by offering additional financing options for essential community facilities like hospitals and community care centers.
“With the U.S. farm economy and rural communities facing ongoing challenges, we cannot and should not wait to finish the Farm Bill. We urge the House Agriculture Committee to advance the Farm Bill 2.0 process to ensure these forward-looking policies are enacted in 2026. Farm Credit supports Chairman Thompson’s draft and looks forward to working with members on both sides of the aisle to secure passage.”
Farm Credit supports rural communities and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services, today and tomorrow. It has been fulfilling its mission of helping rural America grow and thrive for more than a century with the capital necessary to make businesses successful and by financing vital infrastructure and communication services. For more information visit www.farmcredit.com.
Invest in Our Land Statement on House Agriculture Committee Release of Farm Bill Text
Today, Invest in Our Land (IIOL), a nonpartisan organization committed to amplifying the voices of American farmers and ranchers and ensuring they have the tools and support they need to implement conservation practices that strengthen their operations, safeguard our natural resources, and secure the future of U.S. agriculture, issued the following statement in response to the release of Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, proposed bill text for reauthorization of the Farm Bill:
“Invest in Our Land appreciates Chairman Thompson’s efforts to pass a Farm Bill that includes robust support and reforms for federal conservation programs, strengthens access to precision agriculture tools, and reauthorizes the Conservation Reserve Program,” said IIOL Executive Director Rebecca Bartels. “However, funding and policy improvements alone are not enough when NRCS capacity has been hollowed out over the past year, with 22 percent of its staff – equal to 2,673 employees – leaving the agency in just the first half of 2025. Without sufficient NRCS staff, programs and payments stall, contracts go unimplemented, and farmers are left carrying these consequences alone. As Congress works to get this Farm Bill across the finish line, we urge Members to give producers the certainty they need by protecting both conservation funding and the NRCS workforce required to deliver it to farmers on the ground.”
About Invest in Our Land
Invest in Our Land is an organization that elevates the voices of farmers across the country to underscore the importance of safeguarding the future of U.S. farms. The organization is sharing the success stories of farmers and ranchers from across the U.S. to raise awareness about the need to protect federal conservation funding and ensure its delivery to American producers. You can learn more at Investinourland.org
ARA Commends the Release of the Farm Bill Text
The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) President and CEO Daren Coppock released the following statement in response to the introduction of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 by House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.):
“ARA commends Chairman G.T. Thompson for his leadership in advancing the 2026 Farm Bill and for his commitment to providing long term certainty for America’s farmers, ranchers, and agricultural supply chain partners,” said ARA President & CEO, Daren Coppock. “Agricultural producers continue to face significant challenges, including volatile markets, extreme weather, global trade instability, labor shortages, and rising input costs. A strong, forward looking Farm Bill is essential to maintaining a reliable safety net that supports our nation’s food, energy, and fiber supply, while also investing in conservation, research, rural development, crop protection, trade promotion, and nutrition programs.”
