What’s Included In—And Missing From—The Senate Farm Bill Draft

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg 

Last week, the United States Senate Agriculture Committee released its draft version of the next Farm Bill, the cornerstone framework of U.S. agriculture policy that’s now more than three years overdue. The House of Representatives passed its own version earlier this year, which means the current Congress is on track to determine the country’s broad-scale food policy for the next five-plus years.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman called the legislation a “discussion draft of Farm Bill 2.0 that is built for the people who feed America.” 

So what’s actually in this Farm Bill draft—and what did not make the cut? 

The draft Bill will reauthorize a number of popular initiatives, including the Rural Energy for America Program and more than 60 research programs. American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall praised the Bill as a “good first step” with benefits that include “improved access to credit, expanded investments in specialty crops, increased transparency in fertilizer markets, and enhanced research and conservation programs.”

But the Bill earned criticism from the National Family Farm Coalition for failing to tackle anti-competitive practices, and the organization Friends of the Earth worries that it cuts nearly US$2 billion from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and pushes subsidies toward the largest agribusiness operations.

In short, the Senate version appears to have some positive qualities but overall fails to take the level of ambitious action we need in this moment.

“The Senate is right to listen to the American people and abandon the politically toxic Cancer Gag provisions and the Save Our Bacon Act, but a Farm Bill that fails to protect farmers from corporate consolidation, invest in real climate solutions and ensure healthy, affordable food for all is not a solution—it’s just more of the same,” says Rebecca Wolf, Food & Water Watch Food Policy Director, in a statement.

What could a better version of the 2026 Farm Bill look like?

“This Senate Farm Bill draft falls far short of what the farmers and rural communities we work alongside need. We believe the Farm Bill must do more to address the farm crisis, support independent farmers, and protect nutrition programs. It must challenge policies that prioritize corporate agribusiness over farmers,” per a statement from RAFI-USA.

After the House passed its version, I talked to one of my favorite food systems experts, Kathleen Merrigan, who is Executive Director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University. A bad Farm Bill, she told me, “is not worth it.” One of the things we need to see in a good Farm Bill, she said, is protections and expansion for food relief programs like SNAP.

Right now, SNAP access is getting more difficult. According to recent analysis from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), there are now more than 5.5 million fewer people receiving SNAP than there were when President Trump took office in January 2025. And for Kathleen, in her home state of Arizona, food pantries are seeing longer and longer lines as the safety net becomes weaker.

“I want people to think big,” she told me on the Food Talk podcast. “Be creative and be ready to roll up your sleeves and do what it takes. … We have enough power to say no if it doesn't address the SNAP inequities. We have the power to say no if we all stand together, and that’s what I want people to realize: Even in this very different (political) climate, they do have the ways to act to make a difference.”

The Bill is set to be debated and potentially amended in the Ag Committee sometime after the July 4 holiday and before Congress’ August recess, Boozman says. And there’s plenty of discussion remaining, since the Senate and House will both need to agree on a version of the Farm Bill text for it to be sent to the President and signed into law. 

Especially if your elected officials in Congress sit on Agriculture Committees—but even if they don’t—let’s make sure we’re being clear about our priorities, empowering them to fight for an equitable Farm Bill, and holding them accountable to represent the health of people and the planet.

And as Kathleen Merrigan points out, our work is not done. Share your visions for a better Farm Bill with me at danielle@foodtank.com. When we “think big” about the future of food and agriculture policy, what do we want to see? 

(Danielle Nierenberg is the President of Food Tank and can be reached at danielle@foodtank.com)