Farm Bill Update

By Paul Weinstein 

On Tuesday, June 23, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) released the long-awaited text of the Agricultural Act of 2026. Clocking in at just over 900 pages, the Agricultural Act would update wide swaths of federal food and farm policy – yet the draft falls well short of tapping its full potential. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives approved their own, separate version of the farm bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026.

The most recent full farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, was signed into law in December 2018. As of July 2026, we are in uncharted waters – over seven and a half years have passed since the 2018 Farm Bill was signed into law, the longest such stretch in recent memory. In 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act split the traditional farm bill coalition by updating some farm bill policies while excluding the rest – from rural development and credit, to conservation and local and regional food systems – leaving them to an uncertain future.

As of posting, the Agricultural Act’s immediate prospects remain hazy. While Chairman Boozman has signaled that a Committee markup could be held in the near future, the hypothetical markup date has slipped repeatedly in recent months. Meanwhile, Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) has made clear that Committee Democrats want the farm bill to directly alleviate the OBBB’s impacts on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program before entertaining a broader negotiation. Ultimately, 60 votes are required to approve a farm bill in the Senate – and in the 119th Congress, that means a successful Senate farm bill must be the product of a bipartisan process.

We are focused on the bill’s Conservation Title. The Agricultural Act cuts over $1.9 billion from the first five years of the Environmental Quality Incentive Program’s (EQIP) budget window, and $500 million permanently from the Conservation Stewardship Program’s (CSP) baseline. Both cuts will result in an immediate reduction in the resources available to producers in 2027, though EQIP’s long term baseline budget is maintained after 2031. CSP on the other hand, takes a permanent, unacceptable cut. These reductions come as reports show producers are once again struggling to access CSP and EQIP due to lack of funding, with only 24-37% of valid applicants receiving contracts in 2025. Any farm bill that moves forward this year must not reduce budgets for these popular programs; rather, it should include additional resources commensurate with the high producer demand for conservation we see across the country.

In order to effectively administer conservation program resources, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) needs field staff. NRCS lost 23% of its staff between January 2025 and January 2026, reducing its ability to give farmers a reasonable customer service experience. NRCS staff work directly with farmers and landowners to identify conservation practices that are well-suited to their needs and local natural resource concerns. They provide vital technical assistance for farmers and landowners and help them apply for and manage contracts with conservation programs that help share the cost of conservation practices. Any farm bill that passes this year must address the ongoing staffing shortages at USDA, and at NRCS in particular.

Senator John Fetterman serves on the Agriculture Committee. Please contact Senator Fetterman through his website: https://www.fetterman.senate.gov/contact/ and ask him to maintain funding for EQIP and CSP and restore staffing at NRCS.