Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman on Tuesday painted a grim outlook for the nation’s farmers and ranchers — citing a difficult economic climate created by high inflation and low market prices — as he vowed to correct course via his chamber’s new farm bill.
The draft five-year farm bill unveiled in the Senate proposes the creation or reauthorization of a number of conservation and forestry programs, while also leaving out contentious provisions on biofuels, pesticide labeling and other issues.
The legislation, which is budget-neutral, contains language to streamline environmental reviews for some forest management projects to better manage wildfire risk.
“Hardworking farmers and ranchers are struggling to break even, let alone profit in this current economic climate,” Boozman said on the Senate floor about his “Agricultural Act of 2026.”
“High inflation, steep input cost and low market prices have put many farm families on a course towards bankruptcy, with multigenerational operations fighting for survival.”
The draft bill remains a work in progress, but it sets a marker for the upper chamber’s farm and forest policy priorities ahead of an expected conference negotiation with the House later this year. The House passed its own farm bill in April.
Boozman also emphasized the need for bipartisan support as the bill must receive 60 votes in the Senate. “That reality is guided in this discussion draft. My goal is to advance a bill that can earn broad bipartisan support and deliver meaningful results to rural America,” Boozman said.
“No single proposal has all the answers, but this discussion draft is a strong foundation on which to build as we continue conversations to strengthen American agriculture and secure brighter future for family farmers.”
The Arkansas lawmaker also alluded to the ongoing war with Iran, which has created a spike in fertilizer prices: “This draft meets the moment for many world needs,” he said.
Boozman is hoping to refine the legislation and hold a markup before the scheduled August recess.
Democrats slammed the bill for not including some key demands, including rolling back Republican cuts to federal food aid spending.
“Republicans’ Farm Bill fails farmers, fails families, and fails the moment,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The details
The proposal includes House Republicans’ provision to reallocate nearly $1 billion provided for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program in the GOP’s megalaw to other conservation priorities.
The legislation would reauthorize a number of popular initiatives, such as the Rural Energy for America Program and more than 60 research programs. It proposes to restore certain grants for biorefineries and would direct the Department of Agriculture to develop a strategy to support production of sustainable aviation fuels.
The bill would give all USDA conservation programs — including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and watershed programs — expanded authorities to address long-term drought.
It matches the House bill in proposing to establish a new Forest Conservation Easement Program, and it would authorize a new State Conservation Assistance Program to help support local initiatives.
Committee leaders included language from more than a dozen lands bills, including some language that would complement the bipartisan “Fix Our Forests Act,” S. 1462.
The draft bill would create new or expanded categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act for forest management projects intended to reduce wildfire risk. The Forest Inventory Analysis Program would get an overhaul to improve data collection.
Like the House’s farm bill, the Senate draft would clarify Forest Service requirements under the so-called Cottonwood decision, limiting how much consultation the Forest Service has to do with the Fish and Wildlife Service on certain forest management plans when there is new information about potential threats to endangered species.
Contentious provisions left out
The Senate Agriculture Committee draft includes no mention of a number of controversial proposals that would otherwise threaten to derail the measure before it even gets a markup.
A committee aide said Tuesday that the goal was to produce a noncontroversial bill to start, but noted that members will surely try to amend the legislation during a markup or during conference negotiations with the House later this year.
A bipartisan proposal to authorize year-round sales of E15 biofuel, which is 15 percent ethanol, did not make it into the Senate draft. The House passed a version of that proposal after months of Republican-led negotiations, but it faces a rocky path forward in the Senate.
The omission comes as little surprise, however Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said last week he did does not see the farm bill as the best vehicle, suggesting the E15 language could end up in an annual defense authorization bill instead.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) wants to see legislation permanently authorizing the summertime sale of E15 pass the Senate sometime before the August recess, according to a committee aide, but it’s not clear what form that could take. Thune’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The bill similarly does not include a provision originally included in the House measure that would have given pesticide companies some protection from lawsuits by people who allege their products caused illnesses such as cancer. A bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers fought that provision on the floor and successfully had it removed with an amendment.
The Senate draft also does not include dedicated financial assistance for farmers, many of whom are struggling with impacts of tariffs, inflation, low commodity prices and drought.
