American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall today applauded the release of farm bill text and notice of a Senate Ag markup for next week.
“When you look across the spectrum of agriculture, there is one piece of legislation that touches almost every farm in America, and that’s the farm bill, so it’s time for Congress to get it done.
“We’re grateful to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman for releasing farm bill text and are encouraged that we can achieve a bipartisan bill that can get across the finish line. We appreciate the Administration’s call for Congress to move this process forward and urgently deliver a farm bill to the President’s desk.
“The bill includes important provisions beyond traditional farm bill program support, including authorizing the sale of E15 blended fuel year-round, expanding investments in specialty crops and measures to reduce input price volatility. We’re also calling on Congress to deliver a fix for interstate commerce issues as well as much-needed economic aid for agriculture.
“We’ve lost 200,000 farms in a decade, and a modernized farm bill will help stabilize the struggling farm economy. We’re calling on the Senate Agriculture Committee to advance the bill out of markup and send it forward for full Senate passage and ultimately the president’s signature.”
Invest in Our Land (IIOL) issued the following statement in response to the release of the legislative text for the Agricultural Act of 2026 – or “Farm Bill 2.0” – by Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman ahead of the committee’s markup next week.
“Federal conservation programs are pivotal in helping farmers and ranchers across the country navigate one of the toughest periods in a generation – rising input costs, unpredictable markets, and weather that cost producers billions of dollars,” said Rebecca Bartels, Executive Director of Invest in Our Land. “That is why the long-term conservation commitment Congress made in 2025 needs to be defended and strengthened, not eroded piece by piece. We recognize the durable support many members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, including the Chairman, have shown for conservation over the years, but we are troubled that the Committee’s draft Farm Bill continues to divert money away from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) to cover other priorities – reducing EQIP by nearly $2 billion below the levels Congress established just last year. Based on a recent state-level analysis by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Senate’s proposed cuts could leave more than 56,500 valid farmer applications unfundedover the next few fiscal years. EQIP and its sister programs deliver tangible, on-the-ground results for producers’ resilience and capacity to innovate, which is exactly why they rank among the most oversubscribed programs USDA runs: in fiscal year 2025, the Department was able to fund only about 24 percent of EQIP applicants and 37 percent of applicants to the Conservation Stewardship Program. When demand exceeds available dollars by that margin, the solution is not to slice the same pie ever thinner while the backlog goes untouched – it is to put more resources into the programs producers are requesting by name. We welcome the improvements to the Conservation Reserve Program, but reshuffling existing funds will not meet producers’ needs.
“Furthermore, as USDA continues to move forward with its reorganization that may result in further staff losses, the Natural Resources Conservation Service has already lost 23 percent of its workforce, and conservation dollars don’t reach the field without the planners, engineers, and field staff who partner with farmers and ranchers to deliver them. Protecting and expanding conservation funding has to go hand in hand with protecting the people at NRCS. We urge the Committee to fund new and expanded programs without raiding others and to protect staffing at NRCS. Farmers and ranchers are relying on them to do the right thing at a time when they can ill-afford another blow to the success and vitality of their operations.”
NAWG Welcomes Senate Farm Bill Progress Ahead of Committee Markup- Following the release of updated text for the Agricultural Act of 2026, the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) welcomed the Senate Agriculture Committee’s continued progress toward a comprehensive, five-year farm bill. Chairman John Boozman has scheduled the Committee to consider the legislation on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. ET. The proposed legislation includes important provisions for wheat growers, including continued investments in agricultural research, risk-management tools, trade promotion, international food assistance and the U.S. grain inspection system. “Wheat farmers need the certainty and long-term direction that only a five-year farm bill can provide,” said NAWG President and Idaho wheat farmer Jamie Kress. “We appreciate Chairman Boozman and the Senate Agriculture Committee for keeping this process moving and recognizing the challenges facing producers. As the Committee considers the bill, we urge senators to strengthen it by permanently codifying the transfer of the Food for Peace program to USDA, where it can remain closely connected to American agriculture and U.S.-grown commodities. NAWG looks forward to working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to advance a strong, bipartisan farm bill that delivers certainty for wheat growers and rural communities.” NAWG will continue engaging with the Senate Agriculture Committee and members of Congress as the legislation advances to ensure the final farm bill supports wheat producers, strengthens U.S. agricultural competitiveness and reinforces the role of American-grown commodities in international food assistance.
Late on Friday, July 31, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) released a revised proposal for the next Farm Bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026. While the new text takes steps to reach a bipartisan agreement—the National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) maintains that these incremental changes are not enough to address the existential crises facing young farmers today. The Committee will mark up the updated version of the Agricultural Act of 2026 this Thursday, August 6.
“We see the Committee moving on technical improvements, but technicalities will not save the new generation of farmers from land consolidation or a crumbling nutrition safety net,” said Michelle A.T. Hughes, Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition. “This revised text continues to ignore the urgent need for structural investments in land access and fails to restore the essential nutrition programs that keep our local farm economies viable. As written, this bill remains a missed opportunity.”
Nutrition and Markets: Interconnected and Underfunded
The revised proposal fails to reverse the $187 billion in SNAP cuts enacted under the previous budget reconciliation, which takes food assistance away from millions while shifting unprecedented costs to states. According to the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), 4.7 million people have already lost access to SNAP since July 2025, representing a massive loss of purchasing power for farmers who rely on these customers.
For young farmers, SNAP is a vital market access tool, not just a social program. Lydia Nebel of KC Farm School highlights how SNAP serves as a reliable economic driver for both families and local producers:
“KC Farm School has continued to see an increased use in SNAP and other food assistance programs offered at Kansas City area farmers markets. About half of our SNAP users are regular customers that use the farmers market for their grocery shopping so they can feed their families local, seasonal, nutrient-dense food. We not only get to help increase access to these high-quality foods for Kansans and Missourians, but also increase economic impact for area farmers. The market is producer-only so we can see the direct benefit on small businesses, regenerative farmers, and our community. Federal Food Assistance programs began in the 1930s to benefit both customers and farmers locally; we advocate for these benefits to be continued so more farmers can feed more people!”
Furthermore, while the bill maintains the Strengthening Local Food Security Program, it continues to lack mandatory funding, leaving the survival of local food systems to the whims of the annual appropriations process.
Land Access: A Continued Data and Policy Gap
The bill entirely omits authorization of the Increasing Land Access, Market, and Capital (ILCM) program and the TOTAL (Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land) survey. Neglecting these important programs leaves USDA without the data, tools, and resources to put the next generation of farmers on the land or to facilitate the transition of 300 million acres of farmland over the next two decades.
Young Farmers joins partners like the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) in calling for a Farm Bill that provides “courage and critical investments” rather than “empty promises.” We urge the Senate to return to the negotiating table to draft a truly bipartisan bill that:
- Restores mandatory funding for local food and climate-resilient conservation;
- Invests in equitable land access through the LCM program and TOTAL survey; and
- Strengthens the nutrition foundation by reversing and delaying SNAP cuts from HR 1.
Until these core needs are met, the National Young Farmers Coalition continues to urge a “NO” vote on the Agricultural Act of 2026 to protect the future of American agriculture.
The president of the National Corn Growers Association sent a letter today to the leadership and members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry expressing support for the Agricultural Act of 2026, the farm bill “2.0” that the committee is considering. The letter encouraged action by week’s end.
“Corn growers recognize there are limited legislative days remaining in this Congress for the farm bill and E15 to pass and be signed into law,” Ohio farmer and NCGA President Jed Bower wrote in the letter. “With these views considered, NCGA urges the Committee to advance the farm bill this week ahead of the planned August recess.”
Bower was particularly effusive in the letter as he addressed the inclusion of language in the bill that would allow for the year-round sale of fuels with 15% ethanol blends or E15.
“This deregulatory action will help corn growers and the rural economy during this difficult time and will also address issues around affordability by lowering prices at the pump,” he said. “NCGA is extremely grateful that year-round E15 is included in the Agricultural Act.”
The letter also highlights specific policy details that are of interest or importance to corn grower members contained in the legislation.
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry recently released Farm Bill “2.0” text that includes language on several of NCGA’s Farm Bill priorities as well as expanding consumer access to fuel with 15% ethanol blends. In response to this development, Ohio farmer and NCGA President Jed Bower released the following statement:
“We thank Chairman Boozman and Ranking Member Klobuchar for their leadership in ongoing Farm Bill negotiations and are looking forward to the committee consideration planned for next week.
“We are extremely grateful that year-round E15 continues to be part of the conversation. This is a top priority for corn growers, who greatly need expanded sources of demand, like the kind year-round E15 would offer. We will continue to review the released text to evaluate its impact on corn growers and importance for agriculture.”
