Farm Bill 2026: What Comes Next

After years of extensions and stalled negotiations, Congress has finally moved both chambers’ farm bill proposals through their respective Agriculture Committees. The next phase will be defined less by drafting a new bill than by resolving the significant differences between the House and Senate approaches.

The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the Agricultural Act of 2026, or “Farm Bill 2.0,” on September 16 by a 12-11 party-line vote. The action followed an August markup in which the committee failed to advance the bill after Senate Democrats objected primarily to provisions governing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) cost-sharing. With Sen. Mitch McConnell back in attendance, Republicans had enough votes to report the bill without Democratic support.

The latest markup did not resolve the core bipartisan disagreements. One of the most consequential disputes remains SNAP. The Senate bill would delay implementation of the new SNAP benefit cost-sharing requirements by one year and give states additional flexibility in calculating future payment-error rates. Democrats have pushed for a two-year delay, while Republicans have argued that the one-year delay provides sufficient time for states to prepare.

Other unresolved issues also remain. The September markup included a procedural dispute over whether the committee could revisit language addressing state production standards such as California’s Proposition 12. Republican senators argued that the provision should remain available for consideration, while Chairman John Boozman maintained that the relevant title had already closed. Members were directed toward the Senate floor as the venue for further consideration.

The House and Senate bills already share substantial common ground. Both would strengthen the farm safety net, make changes to USDA lending programs, support conservation and specialty crops, and reauthorize a wide range of agricultural and rural-development programs. But several policy differences will need to be reconciled, including SNAP, Proposition 12, E15, pesticide regulation, and aspects of international food assistance.

That makes the Senate floor the next major inflection point. Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman has indicated that a floor vote is expected after the November elections. Because a farm bill requires 60 votes to clear the Senate, the committee’s party-line vote is not sufficient to resolve the legislation’s broader political differences.

If the Senate passes its bill, the House and Senate will then need to negotiate a common package. That process could take the form of a traditional conference committee or negotiations between Agriculture Committee leadership and their staffs. Given the overlap between the bills, negotiators could focus on the relatively discrete set of provisions where the chambers diverge rather than reopen every title.

Timing will be critical. The current farm bill extension expires September 30, meaning Congress will need either another extension or enactment of a new bill to avoid gaps in expiring authorities. With the Senate floor vote expected after the election and limited legislative days remaining in 2026, a short-term extension could provide additional runway for negotiations. A broader year-end legislative package could also provide a vehicle for completing the farm bill if the chambers are unable to move it independently.

For stakeholders, the immediate priority is therefore clear: understand where the House and Senate bills align, identify the provisions that remain genuinely unsettled, and engage lawmakers before the post-election negotiations begin. The next several months will determine whether Congress can finally convert two competing proposals into a single five-year farm bill.