Senate Agriculture Committee releases Farm Bill draft

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry released a Farm Bill discussion draft on June 23.

Committee Chair John Boozman (R-AR) introduced the bill at a press conference and called it “built for the people who feed America.”

The senator said the proposal, which is called the Agricultural Act of 2026, includes expanded access to affordable crop insurance and strengthened farm safety net programs, issues that are top of mind for many in horticulture.

“Our plan is built for the farmers who take risk,” Boozman said. "We increase USDA’s loan limits so farmers can access the capital necessary to maintain and grow their operations. The current caps simply fail to reflect current economic conditions. This bipartisan provision is not optional; it is essential to ensuring producers have the financing they need at a critical time for American agriculture.”

Congress has not passed a new Farm Bill since 2018. Typically, the legislation is refreshed every five years, but elected officials have been unable to reach a compromise. The essential provisions of the Farm Bill have been tacked onto federal spending bills.

The House of Representatives passed its 2026 Farm Bill, dubbed The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, at the end of April. Once the Senate passes its version, the House and Senate Agriculture Committees will meet for a conference committee to reconcile any differences between the two bills.

While the Senate’s draft is similar to the Farm Bill proposal advanced by the House in April, it has a few differences. One change that would impact horticulture is the lack of pesticide labeling in the Senate’s version.

Read a full breakdown of the Senate’s bill here.

House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson released the following statement:

“I applaud Chairman Boozman and his team for their continued efforts to support producers and rural America through a full, five-year Farm Bill. I am encouraged to see the Senate build on the bipartisan momentum we began in the House of Representatives with the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. … I look forward to working with Chairman Boozman and getting a Farm Bill to President Trump’s desk soon."

Both the House version and drafted Senate version of the bill expand crop insurance to cover “losses due to a decline in the market price” of a commodity, where current policy covers only crop losses caused by “drought, flood, or other natural disasters.”

Also of interest to the horticulture world, both versions of the new Farm Bill would support the Specialty Crop Research Initiative by creating a new specialty crop mechanization and automation research program. This program would receive $30 million per year in dedicated funding through SCRI.