The 2026 Farm Bill cleared a significant hurdle on 17 September when the Republican-controlled Senate Agriculture Committee passed it on a 12–11 party-line vote and sent it to the full Senate. American farmers are still operating under the 2018 Farm Bill.

"Advancing this bill out of committee is a critical step toward getting a fully updated Farm Bill signed into law," committee chairman Senator John Boozman said after the vote. "While this is clearly welcome progress, we need more of our colleagues' votes to reflect the urgency of supporting farmers, ranchers, forest landowners and rural communities."

Farm groups celebrated and, in the same breath, told lawmakers to hurry. "In the past 10 years, more than 200,000 family farms have gone out of business, as farmers grappled with a pandemic, global unrest, rising expenses and falling prices paid for the food they grow," said American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall. Sam Kieffer, chief executive of the National Association of Wheat Growers, noted that Congress had spent the last four years debating the next "five-year" farm bill: "America's wheat farmers need action now."

The corn lobby singled out the bill's language on year-round sales of E15, petrol with 15% ethanol. "It has the potential to significantly lower gas prices across the country while shoring up the nation's energy security," said National Corn Growers Association president Jed Bower, adding that "there is still work to be done".

Other sectors want specific fixes before the bill is done. The National Pork Producers Council thanked senators but is demanding a nationwide solution to California's Proposition 12, the state law that sets its own housing rules for pork sold there. "America's pork producers deserve a robust farm bill, which should come with protection from being forced to rebuild our barns every time another state decides it knows what is best for animal welfare," said NPPC president Rob Brenneman.

The Meat Institute, for its part, objects to an amendment led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune that directs the USDA and the US Trade Representative to find a World Trade Organization-compliant way to reinstate mandatory country-of-origin labelling (MCOOL) for beef. "MCOOL is a misguided solution in search of a problem," said its president and chief executive Julie Anna Potts, pointing to record fed and feeder cattle prices in 2025 and 2026 and a herd still rebuilding from historically small numbers. "We need more cattle for more beef; not protectionist trade measures that will raise prices for consumers."

The bill must now pass a full Senate vote, be reconciled with the version the House passed earlier in the year, and then go to the president for signature.

Source: Farms.com