Ag News

Senate Ag Committee passes farm bill

Today, Sept. 16, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed the Agricultural Act of 2026 in a 12-11 party-line vote, according to published reports. RFD-TV reported that the bill passed without amendments or changes.

Ag groups across the country, including Farm Bureau, applauded the move, which comes amid some of the toughest economic times farmers and ranchers have faced in decades.

“Georgia Farm Bureau is encouraged that the Senate Ag Committee advanced the farm bill,” said Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall. “Georgia’s farmers are struggling, and an updated farm bill to address farmers’ needs is certainly welcome. We hope the Senate will move quickly to pass the farm bill, as well.”

The bill failed in the committee on Aug. 6, when two Republicans, Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, missed the vote. McConnell was present Wednesday and voted to support the bill, the Washington Post reported.

Congress last passed a farm bill in 2018, and it has been extended in various forms multiple times since it initially expired in 2023. The current extension expires at the end of September.

“It’s been almost a decade since Congress last passed a farm bill,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said. “In the past 10 years, more than 200,000 family farms have gone out of business, as farmers grappled with a pandemic, global unrest, rising expenses and falling prices paid for the food they grow. A new, modernized farm bill will help give farmers the tools they need to survive continued and unforeseen challenges ahead.”

The next step for the bill is consideration by the full Senate, where 60 votes will be required for passage, followed by reconciliation between the Senate bill and the House farm bill, which passed on April 30.

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