Like many farmers and organizations across the country, Farm Aid has been eagerly awaiting a new farm bill that addresses our food and farm system’s biggest challenges. But the House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (FFSNA), is not the bill we’ve been waiting for. Where this bill does provide small wins, they come at the expense of greater tradeoffs or without assurance of their implementation or funding.
FFSNA represents more business-as-usual policy in a time of unprecedented challenges for our country’s family farmers. Rather than addressing historically unstable markets, high input costs, the risks of climate change and the dismantlement of USDA and federal programs, this bill fails to meet the moment or the needs of our communities and farmers. Farm Aid is disappointed by bill and urges members of the House to vote “No” when it comes to the House floor this month.
If passed, FFSNA would
- Harm communities by protecting pesticide companies from being held accountable when their products cause illnesses like cancer;
- Weaken farmland protection;
- Increase financial support for expensive, “precision agriculture technology” that puts more money in the pocket of Big Ag and Tech instead of funding tried-and-true, cost-effective and accessible solutions for reducing fertilizer and pesticide use;
- Expands eligibility for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to include large operations, reducing opportunities for individual and small businesses to participate in the program;
- Continue to disproportionately benefit the largest and most well-off agricultural operations, while leaving out small and midsized producers;
- Allow millions of vulnerable Americans to go hungry as their SNAP benefits are cut.
In addition to these harms, this proposed bill
- Does NOT provide adequate funding for SNAP, ensure the reliable and accurate assessment of food insecurity among families and communities across the country and it does not restore the unexpected cuts to nutrition education programs for low-income families made by President Trump’s 2025 budget bill;
- Does NOT address the rampant corporate consolidation and power in our food system;
- Does NOT address speculative farmland ownership and pressures of land consolidation;
- Does NOT improve crop insurance access for small and diversified farming operations or make common sense changes to safety net programs;
- Does NOT restore funding to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)– a very popular and underfunded conservation program;
- Does NOT rehire qualified USDA employees to so that farmers have access to local USDA offices or services;
- Does NOT increase funding for the 1890s Centers of Excellence– institutions that provide critical technical training and increase the profitability and rural prosperity in farming communities;
- Does NOT return funding to farm-fresh food programs for schools and childcare centers.
Farm Aid wants to see a farm bill that restores funding to SNAP and invests in our agricultural communities. We remain steadfast in our conviction that a new farm bill should:
- Fix the harms caused by President Trump’s 2025 budget bill by restoring funding to nutrition programs and SNAP;
- Address the impacts of funding and program cuts and forced departures at USDA;
- Support farmers in the face of climate change;
- Level the playing field for small and mid-sized producers through supporting fair and competitive markets;
- Ensure that BIPOC, young and beginning farmers have equal access land and to tools like fair credit, financial and technical assistance and
- Create a permanent and sustainable safety net for all farmers facing natural disasters.
We won’t settle for a farm bill that fails to address farmers’ biggest challenges; join us and urge Congress to vote NO on FFSNA.
