RAFI -- Senate Fails to Improve Upon House Farm Bill

 Senate Fails to Improve Upon House Farm Bill

• RAFI 

  From:rafiusa@rafiusa.org

  To:m.mk@...

  Wed, Jul 1 2026 at 10:57 AM

  Dear Friends, The Senate Agriculture Committee released its version of the Farm Bill last Tuesday. If you’re short on time but want to know what you can do, tell your Senator the Senate Farm Bill isn’t good enough. For more about why it’s not good enough, read on! You heard from us in April regarding the House’s vote on its Farm Bill draft — a draft that RAFI believes does too much harm and not enough good.  Unfortunately, the bill passed the House by a margin of 224-220. The ball is now in the Senate’s court for Farm Bill action. Last week the Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Sen. Boozman (R-AR), released a draft Farm Bill text that largely mirrors what was passed in the House — with all of its shortcomings and insufficiencies:  Many of the costs of SNAP are set to move to already-strapped state and county budgets, and this bill does nothing to prevent that damage. The bill strips $1.9 billion out of the EQIP program (one of the NRCS cost-share programs that many farmers in RAFI’s network are eligible for and seek funding through). This will make the pot of money that farmers compete for in the EQIP program smaller. The bill also carves out $500 million from CSP (the other NRCS cost-share program that many farmers in RAFI’s network are eligible for/seek funding through) to fund state soil health programs. We think those programs are good, but they should be funded through a different NRCS program (RCPP) so that the CSP funding available for farmer cost-share programs does not shrink. The bill does nothing to increase staffing levels at local NRCS and FSA offices, a key concern we've heard from many of the farmers we represent, especially after last year's huge staff losses.  Chair Boozman has indicated that the Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on this Farm Bill draft in late July or early August (see the graphic below to track where we are in the overall Farm Bill process). The earlier in this process we can make our voices heard by Senators, the greater the impact we — and they — will have. Farmers and ranchers deserve a better Farm Bill. Thank you for taking action with us. Aaron and RAFI’s Policy Staff RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International - USA) challenges the root causes of unjust food systems, supporting and advocating for economically, racially, and ecologically just farm communities. Because we are a registered 501(c)(3) organization, your donation is tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.