Farm Action issued the following response to the Senate Agriculture Committee’s 2026 Farm Bill text released today.
This statement can be attributed to Angela Huffman, President of Farm Action:
“The Senate farm bill avoids some of the most harmful provisions included in the House version, including the effort to overturn state protections like California’s Proposition 12. That’s an important win for the independent hog farmers who fought to protect this market.
But this bill still misses the mark for America’s farmers.
It authorizes support for local food systems and specialty crop producers, but fails to adequately fund it. That’s especially troubling after the administration already gutted $1 billion in local food system funding.
The bill also further erodes EQIP funding and strips out some of the strongest features of the administration’s regenerative agriculture pilot by restricting the requirement of whole-farm assessments and soil testing in certain conservation programs. These tools help farmers build soil health, lower costs, and strengthen the long-term viability of their operations.
And while the Senate bill does not include the broad pesticide manufacturer liability shield that was stripped from the House bill, it still contains harmful pesticide provisions that would weaken protections for farmers, rural communities, and the public.
Without the structural reforms needed to restore competition, rebuild local and regional food systems, and strengthen farmers’ position in the marketplace, Congress will continue treating the symptoms instead of the cause. If lawmakers fail to address those underlying problems, farmers will be back in Washington asking for another bailout.”
Farm Action’s farm bill platform lays out concrete steps Congress can take to reverse course and confront food and farm system consolidation, restore competition, and build a farm economy that works for independent farmers, ranchers, and the communities they feed.
Media Contact: Emma Nicolas, [email protected], 202-450-0094
