The U.S. House Agriculture Committee this week voted 34-17 to advance “The Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026,” or Farm Bill 2.0, to the House.
“This vote is a critical step toward delivering certainty for farmers, ranchers and consumers who have waited far too long for an updated farm bill,” Russell Boening, Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) president, said.
U.S. House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson, who led the crafting of the food and farm legislation, said there were programs that still needed to be updated and addressed.
“It is clear that the policies of 2018 are no match for the challenges of 2026, and an update to the 2018 farm bill is long overdue,” Thompson said. “The bill we are deliberating today didn’t spontaneously appear in the halls of Congress. It was formed out in the fields, pastures and townhalls of our country.”
At one session in Waco, Texas farmers, ranchers and Texas Farm Bureau weighed in on the legislation as it was being written.
Boening said he is proud that TFB is proud to have played an active role in shaping this bill, including hosting a U.S. House Committee on Agriculture listening session and taking committee members on farm tours so they could see firsthand the challenges and opportunities facing Texas producers.
The legislation considered by the House Ag Committee was similar to the 2024 farm bill draft, but with a few updates.
“This bill restores regulatory certainty in the interstate marketplace, expands investments in rural communities, and brings science-backed management back to our national forests,” Thompson said. “Farm bill programs will improve risk management tools for specialty crop producers, lower energy costs in rural America, and prioritize American commodities on the global stage.”
The farm bill will also expand farmers’ access to credit, promote new technologies like precision agriculture and enhance conservation programs, according to Thompson.
“Most of all, this is a practical farm bill that provides real and workable solutions,” he said.
The legislation includes updates in the credit title that would increase loan limits for farmers and expand upon credit and loan programs.
It also calls for strengthening rural broadband programs within the rural development title.
The 802-page bill would allow the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to establish a framework to deliver future assistance to specialty crop growers to keep disaster response consistent in future administrations. It would also create a standing authority to deliver ad hoc disaster assistance via block grants to states.
Farm Bill 2.0 would expand access to low-cost financing for agricultural storage infrastructure, namely propane, through the storage facility loan program.
In the conservation title, the bill would reauthorize the Conservation Reserve Program through fiscal year 2031 and maintain the current program cap at 27 million acres for five years.
The year-round sale of E-15 is not included in the bill.