Farm Bill Reauthorization Uncertain After Senate Hearing

Every five years Congress is tasked with reauthorizing the farm bill, which is the primary piece of legislation governing agricultural and food programs in the United States.

Certain programs are permanently authorized and would continue in the absence of new farm legislation; however, other farm bill programs have authorizations that expire approximately every five years and require reauthorization to continue. The most recent farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, expired in 2023. It was extended three times, each for one year.

On August 6, the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture considered its version of the farm bill, the Agriculture Act of 2026, during a full committee markup. The legislation includes several provisions that NACS has long advocated for. Notably, the bill includes a permanent ban on Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) processing fees within the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—a top NACS priority since the 2018 farm bill.

The legislation also includes a provision to make an online SNAP purchasing pilot permanent, and a provision directing the USDA to begin the nationwide transition to EBT chip cards to combat EBT skimming and SNAP benefit theft. Similar provisions were also included in the House farm bill, which passed in April.

Ahead of the markup, Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) filed an amendment that would delay enforcement of new SNAP retailer stocking requirements until six months following the publish date of USDA’s guidance, as retailers have been left in the dark since. If no delay is granted, the rule will go into effect on November 4, 2026, and NACS has raised the alarm that convenience retailers will need more time to comply with the rule. NACS sent both a letter of support for the Justice amendment and a letter of support for the Agriculture Act of 2026 ahead of the markup.

Ultimately, however, the Senate Agriculture Committee did not secure enough votes to advance its version of the farm bill out of markup. The vote failed 10-11 along party lines; proxy votes from absent Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Mitch McConnell were not counted.

Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) said he would reconvene the committee when the Senate returned from August recess to reconsider the legislation for another vote.

While movement on the farm bill is delayed until September, NACS advocacy and education efforts regarding industry priorities continues.

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