Wisconsin Farmers Say New Farm Bill Would Bring Stability During Market Uncertainty

Apr 22, 2026

By Hope Kirwan

Wisconsin farmers are joining a nationwide call for Congress to provide adequate funding and staff for federal farm programs.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, Wisconsin Corn Growers Association and three other state organizations signed on to a letter urging congressional leaders to pass what policymakers are calling the “Farm Bill 2.0.”

It’s been more than seven years since Congress passed a new farm bill, a package of legislation that covers a wide variety of farm-related programs including crop insurance and conservation programs as well as food assistance for low-income families.

Farm bill programs are typically updated every five years, but Congress failed to pass a new package in 2023 and 2024.

Last year, Republicans used the One Big Beautiful Bill to fund several core agriculture programs such as crop insurance while making cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

In the letter sent to House leaders on Friday, farmer groups urged lawmakers to address the remaining programs through legislation passed in March by the House Agriculture Committee. The groups said the “complete suite of programs” in the farm bill are “essential to ensuring the resilience, productivity and global competitiveness” of the country’s ag industry.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.