Farmers Make Final Farm Bill Push
Senate To Vote on Farm Bill Wednesday, McConnell Back
PORTLAND, Maine (DTN) -- Farmers are flooding Capitol Hill this week ahead of Wednesday's Senate Agriculture Committee vote on the farm bill, nearly six weeks after Democrats blocked the legislation over provisions that would shift some SNAP costs to states.
The committee is scheduled to meet at 3:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday to consider Chairman John Boozman's Farm Bill 2.0, formally the Agricultural Act of 2026. The 23-member committee has 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats.
The Senate returned Monday from its August recess, with Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., back in Washington after an extended medical absence. McConnell is a member of the Agriculture Committee and was absent during the committee's Aug. 6 markup.
The committee's August vote failed 10-11, after Democrats opposed advancing the legislation over concerns about the SNAP cost-sharing provisions.
If Republicans remain unified Wednesday, the committee could advance the legislation. But the larger challenge remains: Any farm bill reaching the Senate floor will require 60 votes.
Amendments are not expected during Wednesday's markup, according to two sources familiar with Republican plans. Scheduled in the late afternoon, no amendments and limited speeches could wrap up the meeting quickly.
Russ Kremer, a pork producer and member of the American Meat Producers Association, a group working to prevent the Save Our Bacon Act from being considered in the farm bill, told DTN, "We don't expect any type of amendments introduced, basically clean sailing," based on lobbying conversations this week.
That would leave little opportunity for groups seeking to advance the Save Our Bacon Act, which would reverse California's Proposition 12 requirements. It would also limit opportunities for the National Pork Producers Council, which has lost steam from major media campaigns against the bill.
AMPA is one of more than 15 agricultural organizations bringing members to Washington for fly-ins this week, with many groups focusing their efforts on Senate offices.
A coalition of eight commodity and agricultural organizations is working to reach every Senate office. The group includes the American Farm Bureau Federation, National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, USA Rice, National Association of Wheat Growers, Farm Credit Council, American Bankers Association and National Sorghum Producers.
Ted McKinney, CEO of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, told attendees at the organization's annual meeting in Maine that without passage, "It has consequence for all of us."
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The Senate draft includes updates to 2018 policies focused on risk management, credit modernization and "avoiding overly divisive political mandates."
But SNAP remains the central sticking point for Democrats. NASDA, like many other agricultural organizations, does not take a position on the underlying SNAP policy dispute.
"We make no judgments on that. We are nonpartisan," McKinney said.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson told DTN that House and Senate Republican staff have already been pre-conferencing, working to identify areas of agreement between the two chambers.
FARM GROUPS PUSH THEIR PRIORITIES
National Farmers Union members are also in Washington this week.
Many of the group's priorities overlap with provisions already included in the Senate draft, including year-round E15, fully funded voluntary conservation programs and improved access to credit and debt relief.
NFU is also pushing priorities of its own, including reinstating mandatory country-of-origin labeling, or MCOOL, for beef.
President Donald Trump has called on the House to take up MCOOL in the Oval Office, potentially as part of the farm bill. But adding the issue could complicate Republican agriculture leaders' effort to keep the legislation focused on provisions with broader bipartisan support.
Doug Sombke, president of the South Dakota Farmers Union, said, "No one uses a newspaper from eight years ago to understand what is going on today. A Farm Bill needs to address the needs of farmers and ranchers as well as consumers."
THE 60-VOTE HURDLE
The Senate is scheduled to remain in session through Sept. 30. Even if the committee advances the legislation Wednesday, the bill will face a much larger hurdle on the Senate floor.
One agriculture lobbyist in Washington who spoke with DTN said, "you're still going to have to have democratic agreement on a final product," meaning bipartisan support will be necessary to reach the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation.
If neither chamber flips, "there will be tremendous pressure from their (Democratic) conferences not to play ball," they said.
DTN has reported a standstill since early July, when Boozman released his discussion draft, with negotiations producing little visible movement before the August markup. The committee's August vote ultimately failed 10-11 over the SNAP provisions.
Right now, the last scheduled day of the 119th Congress is Dec. 18.
See: Bipartisan Senate Vote Advances Beef MCOOL, Farm Bill Likely Waits After Election
See: Will the Farm Bill Die Because of the One Big Beautiful Bill?
Jake Zajkowski can be reached at jake.zajkowski@dtn.com
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