The US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry passed its version of a new farm bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026, on 16 September by a vote of 12 to 11. The bill now goes to the full Senate, where 60 votes are needed, and then to a conference with the House, which has already passed its own Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026. The latest extension of the 2018 farm bill expires on 30 September.

Reaction across the industry, compiled by Morning Ag Clips, was broadly welcoming. The National Corn Growers Association said the bill would expand year-round access to E15 petrol blended with 15 percent ethanol. "The 2026 corn crop is the most expensive crop we've ever planted, raised, and are now harvesting," said NCGA president Jed Bower, an Ohio farmer, urging the full Senate to act. Iowa corn growers noted the bill also doubles funding for the MAP and FMD trade promotion programmes and orders a study of consolidation in the fertiliser industry.

Cattle ranchers' group R-CALF USA highlighted a bipartisan provision, led by Senate majority leader John Thune, to restore mandatory country-of-origin labelling (MCOOL) for beef, adopted 17-6 during the committee's August markup. It is the first Senate action on MCOOL since the 2008 farm bill and the first significant move to restore the law since its 2015 repeal. President Trump directed USDA on 4 September to find a path to reinstating it.

The American Feed Industry Association praised the inclusion of the Innovative FEED Act, which would let the Food and Drug Administration review novel animal-feed ingredients as feed rather than as drugs. National Sorghum Producers welcomed both E15 and a provision by Senator Jerry Moran permanently placing the Food for Peace programme at USDA.

The Fertilizer Institute backed provisions on plant biostimulants, precision agriculture and enhanced-efficiency fertilisers, and a proposed USDA post to report independently on fertiliser supply, demand and prices. The National Milk Producers Federation, the American Soybean Association, the American Sugar Alliance, the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture all called for final passage this year.

The National Pork Producers Council was pleased but blunt: it wants the final bill to end the state-by-state patchwork of animal-housing rules triggered by California's Proposition 12. Illinois swine veterinarians Bill Hollis and Aaron Lower argued that fixing welfare standards in law by square footage makes it hard to apply new science.

"Farmers have waited far too long for the certainty of an updated farm bill," said National Sorghum Producers chair Amy France of Scott City, Kansas, summing up the mood: an important step, but the work is not finished.

Source: Morning Ag Clips