{"id":7046977,"date":"2026-08-25T06:00:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/agriculture\/the-senate-farm-bill-markup-what-happened-and-whats-next\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T06:00:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T06:00:52","slug":"the-senate-farm-bill-markup-what-happened-and-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7046977","title":{"rendered":"The Senate Farm Bill Markup: What Happened and What\u2019s Next"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Credit:
Credit: Jonathan P. Larsen\/Diadem Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Thursday, August 6, the Senate Agriculture Committee convened to consider the Agricultural Act of 2026<\/em><\/a>, the Senate\u2019s version of a new farm bill. The early August Committee meeting (known as a \u201cmarkup\u201d) was the Senate Agriculture Committee\u2019s first farm bill markup since June 2018.<\/p>\n

The journey to a new farm bill is never straightforward and always unique, yet the path to a new farm bill \u2013 beginning in 2023 \u2013 has shattered all precedent. Opportunities to authorize a new, full farm bill during the 118th Congress \u2013 in 2023 and 2024 \u2013 came and went in both the House<\/a> and Senate<\/a>. When the November 2024 election delivered a governing \u201ctrifecta\u201d for the Republican Party, they turned to the budget reconciliation process<\/a> to pass a bill that updated some parts of the farm bill, while leaving most out. This reconciliation bill, commonly referred to as H.R. 1,\u00a0 took the unprecedented step<\/a> of cutting nearly $200 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in order to fund another part of the farm bill, effectively breaking the decades-old bipartisan farm bill coalition.<\/p>\n

Despite this fracturing, in the spring of 2026, the House Agriculture Committee approved<\/a> the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026<\/em>, and the full House of Representatives followed suit<\/a> shortly thereafter. Then in late June 2026, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) released a farm bill \u2018discussion draft\u2019<\/a>. This discussion draft was subsequently modified<\/a> before markup in early August 2026 with more than 80 new pages of text, including changes to nearly every title of the farm bill, from conservation, nutrition, research, local and regional food programs, and much more. Perhaps most noteworthy, Senate Republicans included a one-year SNAP cost-shift delay in the modified bill, falling short of Democrats\u2019 ask for a two-year delay. Overall, many of these changes brought the Senate\u2019s farm bill into closer alignment with the House-passed Food, Farm, and National Security Act<\/a> and became the base bill for consideration during the Senate Agriculture Committee markup.<\/p>\n

Summarizing the Markup<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Agricultural Act of 2026 markup kicked off shortly after 9:30 am EDT on Thursday, August 6, and concluded around 1:30 pm that same day. The markup centered on the debate of more than 14 amendments in addition to a separate \u2018en bloc\u2019 amendment that itself included 34 amendments.<\/p>\n

Of note, when the Senate Agriculture Committee has full attendance of its members, Republicans outnumber Democrats 12-11. For this markup in particular, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was absent due to ongoing health issues, bringing the Committee to an even 11-11. However, Senate Agriculture Committee rules allow for absent Senators to vote on amendments by proxy vote. While Senators can also vote by proxy on the overall bill, a proxy vote cannot be the deciding vote, meaning that with Sen. McConnell\u2019s absence the bill would be unable to advance out of committee if the final vote fell along party lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In total, over 200 amendments were filed to the Agricultural Act. 48 amendments received a vote of some sort \u2013 some of which were roll call votes and others that were included in the en bloc amendment. Of the 48 amendments that received a vote, 34 were approved in unison as a part of the bipartisan negotiated \u2018en bloc\u2019 amendment. Of the remaining 14 amendments, only 1 \u2013 establishing mandatory country of origin labeling \u2013 was successfully adopted. Each of the remaining 13 amendments failed on a party-line vote. See the full list of amendments that were considered here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Below is a list of amendment votes directly related to the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)\u2019s priorities that were taken during the Senate Agriculture Committee\u2019s markup:<\/p>\n