Lawmakers ‘In the Very Early Stage’ of Skinny Farm Bill Discussions

By Ryan Hanrahan

Punchbowl News’ Samantha Handler reported late last week that “a farm bill battle is brewing for the fall when a set of key agriculture programs that GOP leaders neglected in their massive reconciliation package will expire.”

“Agriculture Committee Republicans cleared away most of the farm bill in their One Big Beautiful Bill, but now they need Democrats’ help to do the rest. And the OBBB’s deep cuts to SNAP only make bipartisan negotiations more difficult on a short timeline,” Handler reported. “‘Getting a bipartisan farm bill done, that’s the number one question I’ve been asked since I’ve been out here from Democrats and Republicans,’ Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said at Farmfest in Minnesota. ‘I still think there’s hope for that. I think there’s hope for that, because there’s still other work we have to do.’”

“House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-Pa.) hopes to release some legislative text in September — though it depends on staff work this month, according to a committee aide,” Handler reported. “…It’s an aggressive timeline to get a farm bill together so quickly in the fall. While these leftover provisions aren’t as challenging as a full-scale farm bill, Congress still has so much more on its plate. Government funding will take up all the oxygen on Capitol Hill when lawmakers return in September.”

Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks reported that “there’s also some tension between Democrats and Republicans left over from the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by $186 billion over 10 years.”

“‘We’re in the very early stage of talking about what we would like to see in the skinny farm bill,’ Rep. Angie Craig, ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee, told Agri-Pulse Newsmakers at Minnesota Farmfest earlier this week,” Wicks reported. “However, she added, the size of the cuts in nutrition spending ‘makes it harder to get full Democratic support for a skinny farm bill down the road. I’ve made that clear.’”

Some Legislators, Experts Say Bill Unlikely Until 2026

At the end of July, Brownfield’s Mark Dorenkamp reported that “U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is becoming less optimistic a new farm bill gets done in 2025. The Iowa Republican tells Brownfield lawmakers will be focused on nominations ahead of the August recess, then there are week-long breaks on the legislative calendar in September and October.”

“‘Then you have a week off the same week that Veteran’s Day is, then a week off for Thanksgiving. And then ten days at Christmas (so) there’s not a whole lot of time left,’” Dorenkamp reported. “He says it’s more likely the farm bill is completed in early 2026. ‘Hopefully we get it done this year, but I don’t see the chairman of the (Senate Ag) Committee working in that direction.’”

At the beginning of May, AgWeb’s Tyne Morgan reported that the “Ag Economists’ Monthly Monitor found most agricultural economists think it could be 2026 before we see Congress finally pass a new (farm) bill.”

“The April Monthly Monitor asked the nearly 70 ag economists surveyed each month when they think Congress will pass a new farm bill: 59% said 2026, 24% think it won’t happen until 2027 (and) 18% said the second half of 2025,” Morgan reported.

What Priorities Remain for the Skinny Farm Bill?

Agri-Pulse’s Philip Brasher reported at the beginning of July that “issues that would be addressed in what Thompson calls ‘farm bill 2.0’ include controversial provisions to address concerns around industrial hemp, lawsuits against pesticide manufacturers, and California’s Proposition 12 regulations on sow housing.”

“Other issues that need to be addressed include reauthorization of the Conservation Reserve Program; limits for USDA direct and guaranteed loans; rural broadband assistance; and a provision to trigger permanent price-support laws if existing commodity programs are allowed to lapse after 2031,” Brasher reported. “Thompson also said there are several nutrition assistance issues he wants to address, including expanding SNAP eligibility for ex-convicts and families of young adults who are still in school and whose income counts toward their family eligibility for SNAP.”

“Thompson said he also wants to modify SNAP eligibility requirements to eliminate a ‘poverty cliff,’” Brasher reported. “‘Instead of pulling the rug out from underneath these folks as they start to do better, let’s keep supporting them until they’re financially independent of the government,’ he said.”

Lawmakers ‘In the Very Early Stage’ of Skinny Farm Bill Discussions was originally published by Farmdoc.