Ag Committee Advances Farm Bill 2.0 to Uncertain Future in Full Senate

Progressive Farmer’s Jake Zajkowski reported that “the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the 2026 farm bill on a 12-11 party-line vote Wednesday after resuming a recessed business meeting and rejecting an effort to reopen the bill for another amendment. The bill advanced after Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., returned to the committee following an extended absence.” “…The bill includes key farm priorities, including year-round E15, mandatory country-of-origin labeling (MCOOL) and measures to address high input costs, such as the Fertilizer Transparency Act,” Zajkowski reported. “Those provisions are encompassed in the 34-amendment en bloc package, or manager’s amendment, and by a separate amendment, passed by a 16-7 vote in August, in favor of MCOOL.” The Hill’s Mira Bhakta reported that “Democrats on the panel have pushed back against a provision in the bill that would require states to help cover the cost of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding alongside the federal government if payment error rates in a state exceeded a certain point.” “Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), the panel’s chair, compromised with Democrats, who had expressed concern about the provision earlier this summer, by offering a one-year delay,” Bhakta reported. “… The panel’s Democrats said the delay was not enough time for states like Minnesota and Colorado. ‘We share this goal of reducing error rates, but we recognize the reality that states across the country need time and equal resources to bring them down,’ Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), the ranking member on the panel, said during the meeting.” Agri-Pulse’s Kim Chipman reported that “the vote included drama among Republicans over what wasn’t included in the proposed bill, mainly ‘Save Our Bacon’ language that would nullify state livestock containment rules like California’s Proposition 12. Sen. Joni Ernst unsuccessfully sought to offer such an amendment on Wednesday. She was backed by fellow Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who said he had hoped to offer a bipartisan amendment aimed at helping small poultry producers via the 1921 Packers and Stockyards Act.” “Boozman held firm that the bill was closed to new amendments following the markup last month,” Chipman reported. “… Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said the amendments should be pursued on the Senate floor, and that if Boozman were to open the committee bill to changes, it would mean a lengthy process of starting a new farm bill debate.” Farm Bill 2.0 Now Faces Uncertain Future in Full Senate AgWeb’s Haley Bickelhaupt reported that “next, the farm bill will be voted on by the full Senate. The Senate will recess before midterm elections at the end of next week. Chairman of the Russell Group, Tyson Redpath tells AgriTalk’s Chip Flory it’s unlikely a vote will happen before the break. ‘For the next six weeks, both chambers are going to be out of Washington,’ Redpath says. ‘After the election, depending on how the election goes, we will see.'” The Washington Sun’s Tyler Spence reported that “the bill needs 60 votes to clear a filibuster — a bar Republicans can’t hit on their own. Boozman said he has heard from some Senate Democrats outside the committee that they would support this version of the farm bill.” “Congress will need to work quickly to get the bill through before provisions and funding in the current farm bill expire. Farmers are squeezed financially by tariffs, higher input prices — including major cost increases for diesel and fertilizer prices — and extreme weather and drought,” Spence reported. “‘If the window is going to close — that we are able to get this accomplished — then farmers don’t get help, and you don’t get any help to the states,’ Boozman said.” More Information on the Farm Bill 2.0 Watch the full Senate Ag Committee hearing here: https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/hearings/business-meeting-09-16-2026 Read the full text of the bill here: https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/agricultural-act-of-2026-farm-bill-20