What’s in the House Agriculture Appropriations Report?

Although the House Appropriations Committee wasn’t able to get to a final vote to advance their FY26 Agriculture Appropriations bill to the House floor last week, the associated committee report and earmark table have both been posted. Regarding earmarks, the Committee is currently appropriating $643 million for local conservation operations, community facilities, broadband, and water projects.

In addition to details on the funding levels included in the base bill, the report offers insight into the Committee’s priorities for next year. At a high level, the Committee does not include funding for new programs and, for the most part, does not provide additional funding for pay increases. Further, the Committee does not provide funding for climate hubs or climate corps activities. The report also notes that while the President’s budget proposes a number of organizational changes to agencies covered in the bill, the report reflects the current structure of those agencies as authorizing committees any organizational changes to federal structure. 

Unlike appropriations reports for prior fiscal years, the FY26 Ag report includes almost no references to the President’s budget request (largely due to the timing of the request's release) or FY25 enacted funding. Since the FY25 funding bill was a full-year continuing resolution, comparisons have to be drawn from the FY24 Consolidated Appropriations Act and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act.

For the most part, the funding levels in the FY26 Ag appropriations bill are either maintained or decreased from the previous fiscal year. Overall, the USDA receives $807 million less than in FY25. Here are some of the agency-level cuts:

• Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): $30 million cut

• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS): $45 million cut

• Farm Service Agency: $109 million cut

• Food for Peach Program: $787 million cut (almost a 50% reduction)

• National Institute of Food and Agriculture $24.6 million cut

• Agricultural Marketing Service: $32.6 million cut

• Rural Partners Network (RPN): zeroed out

One of the few significant funding increases in the bill goes to the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which receives $2 million more than last year. A similar increase is provided to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), along with a series of small increases for ARS initiatives, including poultry research, wheat resilience, smoke exposure, and more.

While most funding and report language on wildfire will come from the Interior-Environment subcommittee next week, the agriculture bill does include a few notes on the topic. For example, the Committee expresses support for programs and policies that support production and crop yield in agriculture communities impacted by drought issues, especially those in Western States, which are prone to drought and wildfire, and encourages the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to provide assistance to farmers. The Committee also acknowledges the importance of fire and fuel breaks as efficient conservation measures that can reduce the risk of wildfires, as well as the need for workforce housing for wildland firefighters.  

While House Republicans made an effort to align with the President’s budget, many of these cuts are expected to be rolled back by the Senate in the coming weeks.