Now that the 2026 Farm Bill has passed out of the House, it’s on to the Senate next. John Boozman, the chair of the Senate Ag Committee, said it’s a different process in the Senate.
“We’ve got a little bit different situation in the Senate, in the sense that, as we do things, because of the filibuster, we need 60 votes to get things passed. So, we have the opportunity to lose some Republicans, and we have the opportunity to lose a bunch of Democrats. We’ve got to get probably nine, ten, or more to vote with us. So, because of that, we’re working really hard to try to come up with a farm bill. What I’d like to do is take the things that we feel like there’s support on both sides, really maximize our time building a coalition with those things, and get them passed.”
He said a big part of the farm bill was put in place by the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, but it’s time to close the deal.
“If you remember, during reconciliation, we passed about 85 percent of the farm bill, to the tune of about an additional 68 billion dollars put into the farm bill in the last Congress. You know, we dreamed of having $10 or $20 billion to put into it, and we were able to get $68 billion, which is by far the most ever, okay, so we’re pleased with that. We’ve worked on not only the risk management tools, ensuring that crop insurance works better, increasing ARC and PLC payments, all the risk management tools that farmers use, but we also doubled things like research and tremendous conservation dollars were pushed into the farm bill.”
Boozman talked about the important work that’s left to do in completing a farm bill.
“I think the most important thing that we need to do is increase the credit limits. The 2018 Farm Bill was actually based on 2012 data. The world is totally different now than it was in 2012, so they don’t work anymore. You know, if you’re building a structure on your farm or making a loan for something, those loans, because the cost has increased so much, just don’t work anymore. The good news is those things don’t cost a lot, okay, as far as us backing it from a federal standpoint. So, those are things we’re going to concentrate on, and we’re working with Senator Klobuchar, and we have a very, very good working relationship. We’ve done some really important things in the past. She’s a good partner, certainly coming from Minnesota, she understands how important agriculture is and is committed to it, so that’s where we’re at.”