By Macy Byars
After the expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill earlier this fall – and with midterm elections looming ahead – Congress has struggled to finish a new version.
Since 1933, Congress has passed a farm bill about every five years. This legislation establishes, renews and updates farm and food programs that insure farmers’ crops, promotes conservation, funds nutrition assistance and more.
Putting such a large package of issues together takes a lot of work and a lot of compromise.
The 2023 renewal of 2018’s Farm Bill expired on Oct. 1, 2026. While a new version has passed the House and a Senate version is awaiting a floor vote, this year’s farm bill process has been full of tension.
Arguments over funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as well as efforts to delay changes from last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill stalled progress in the Senate’s Agriculture Committee in August.
After a tense hearing, Congress recessed for a month without moving a bill forward. Both Democratic and Republican senators levied blame at the other party for the inaction.
A version without Democrats’ requested changes eventually passed the committee on party lines in September with a Republican majority. It’s likely to face more opposition on the Senate floor and as both chambers settle on a final bill.
Addition and subtraction
For decades, getting a farm bill passed required a unique balancing act that brought together legislators from both parties and vastly different backgrounds.
“Over the years, farm bills have been primarily split on regional differences, or by crop, or where a particular part of agriculture is headed versus another, and that oftentimes has not been along party lines,” said Mike Stranz, the National Farmers Union’s vice president of advocacy. “It might be far north versus the South, or the Corn Belt versus everybody else, or urban versus rural.”
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