The House is moving toward a full floor vote on the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567), which passed out of the House Committee on Agriculture with bipartisan support on March 5, 2026. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson has expressed confidence that the bill will reach the House floor before May 1, 2026.
Chairman Thompson described the Farm Food and National Security Act of 2026 as completing what was started in last summer’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which addressed roughly 20% of a farm bill — primarily commodity title investments of $55-56 billion. The new legislation covers the remaining 80% of needed farm policy updates.
This measure is nicknamed Farm Bill 2.0 or in some cases, the “skinny farm bill.”
Here is where the process stands as of the beginning of this week:
- Committee Approval: The House Agriculture Committee advanced the bill with a 34-17 vote, featuring support from all Republicans and seven Democrats.
- Floor Consideration: The House Rules Committee is considering the bill, with a possible House floor vote expected by the last week of April 2026.
- Key Provisions: The bill focuses on strengthening farm safety nets, increasing investments in rural communities, and enhancing conservation, while including measures that limit local government restrictions on agricultural equipment and address foreign ownership of farmland.
- Controversies & Hurdles: The legislation faces challenges over proposed cuts to SNAP (food assistance), provisions that would overturn state-level animal welfare standards (like California’s Prop 12), and efforts to protect pesticide manufacturers from lawsuits.
- Next Steps: After House passage, the bill must be reconciled with a yet-to-be-introduced Senate version, a process that is expected to face a long path to final passage.
The 2018 farm bill is currently under an extension until September 30, 2026, creating pressure to pass this new legislation before that deadline.
Beyond the Farm Bill itself, Chairman Thompson is pushing for a separate package of emergency farmer aid to help producers navigate rising input costs, fertilizer price spikes, and energy cost increases driven by ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.
Thompson said he has been engaged in conversations with USDA Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins since before the first tranche of aid was distributed, making clear that additional funding is needed — particularly for specialty crop growers.
On the question of dollar figures, Chairman Thompson said the Senate has been discussing a package in the range of $15 billion, with roughly $10 billion targeted at row crops. But Thompson is pushing for more — in the neighborhood of $20 billion or higher — to ensure specialty crop farmers and the forest products industry are not left behind. He specifically called for $200 million to help preserve sawmill infrastructure, arguing that without viable timber markets, proper forest management becomes impossible.
