The 2026 Farm Bill Inches Forward as Senate Draft Deepens SNAP Battle

Eight years late and still unfinished

The United States has not had a new farm bill since 2018 — and with the Agricultural Act of 2026 now moving on two parallel tracks in Congress, the country may finally get one, though the path through the Senate remains anything but clear.legis1 +1 The House passed its version, the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567), on April 30 by a 224-200 vote after an overnight session, with 14 Democrats joining all but three Republicans.farmaid Days later on June 23, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) released the Senate's own draft, the Agricultural Act of 2026, which he called a bill "built for the people who feed America."iowacapitaldispatch

What the bills would do

Both chambers agree on several pillars: expanded crop insurance, including new coverage for market-price declines alongside traditional weather disasters; stronger disaster assistance for specialty-crop farmers; reauthorization of rural broadband, water infrastructure and childcare programs; and a $200 million local food purchasing program modeled on a pandemic-era initiative.naco +1 The Senate draft also expands eligible produce and dairy under federal nutrition programs and creates a Forest Conservation Easement Program.iowacapitaldispatch

The most significant policy departures come in what the Senate left out. The House bill includes preemption of state animal welfare rules — drawn from the so-called Save Our Bacon Act — that would override laws like California's Proposition 12; the Senate draft omitted that language entirely, drawing praise from animal welfare and environmental groups.iowacapitaldispatch +1 The House bill also contained a pesticide-company liability shield, though that provision was stripped by amendment before the final floor vote.farmaid

SNAP: the fault line that could sink the bill

Both bills build on cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that were enacted in the 2025 "One Big Beautiful Bill" reconciliation law, which shifted a portion of benefit costs from the federal government to the states.iowacapitaldispatch That law affects roughly 42 million low-income Americans who rely on SNAP, and under its new error-rate formula only nine states currently qualify for 100% federal funding — meaning most states face new costs estimated at $9 billion.iowacapitaldispatch +1 Senate Agriculture Committee Democrats said in a joint statement that the Boozman draft did not address the "devastating cuts" to SNAP and that they will not back any farm bill that fails to scale them back.civileats

The standoff is existential for the legislation. Clearing a 60-vote threshold in the Senate requires at least some Democratic support, yet the Senate draft does not include any delay or modification of the cost-shift provisions — a position that mirrors the House bill and keeps both chambers well short of the bipartisan coalition that traditionally delivers farm bills.legis1 +1 Senate markup has not yet been scheduled, and the current extension of the 2018 farm bill lapses on September 30, 2026.naco