Op-Eds

Agri-Pulse
By Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (PA-15)

The House Committee on Agriculture will soon introduce and mark up its second standalone farm bill in the last two years. This is because our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities need a new farm bill – not next year, or next Congress. Now.

As chairman of House Ag, I know exactly how badly our producers need a new farm bill.  Whether in my office or out in the field, I’ve heard from a producer of every single commodity, crop, or livestock over the years. The only thing every producer has in common is that they all ask for a new farm bill.

A lot has happened since we passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024 out of committee, and even more has changed since the 2018 farm bill was signed into law. What remains true is that farm country needs updated policies that reflect modern challenges, and that a full, five-year farm bill is the most impactful vehicle for restoring certainty across the entire American agricultural economy.

Every farm bill has a unique path to becoming law. With this in mind, we can’t talk about a new farm bill without talking about last summer’s Working Families Tax Cuts, sometimes known as the One Big Beautiful Bill or H.R. 1. At the committee, we call this bill “Farm Bill 1.0” because it included so much of the farm bill.

This bill authorized many farm bill programs that needed updates to their funding amounts. It was the largest investment in the ag economy in a generation and a huge step forward for farm country. Billions of dollars went into the farm safety net, conservation and research programs, trade promotion funding, livestock biosecurity programs, and much more.

While this bill contained many wins for farmers and ranchers, there’s still a lot of work to be done on the policy side.

A fair question I’ve been asked is, “Why do we need a new farm bill now?” After all, Congress has extended the 2018 farm bill multiple times at this point—why not extend it again?

The simple fact is that 2018 policies are no match for 2026 challenges. To be clear, they were no match for 2025, 2024, or 2023 challenges, either. Political gridlock has stood in the way of this bill for far too long.

The new challenges and opportunities our producers face require new policy. And that is exactly what we will be marking up soon in the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026.

This bill is very similar to its namesake in 2024, with a few key updates for 2026. The remaining programs – those not included in the Working Families Tax Cuts – span across all 12 titles of the farm bill. They expand investments in rural communities, bring science-backed management back to our national forests, and restore regulatory certainty in the interstate marketplace. These programs improve risk management tools for specialty crop producers, lower energy costs in rural America, and prioritize American commodities on the global stage. A new farm bill will expand producers’ access to credit, promote precision agriculture, and enhance conservation programs for working lands.

In the last few months, I’ve heard some comments from my Democrat colleagues about not wanting to pick fights when it comes to some of these farm bill provisions – not because they think the programs are bad for farmers and ranchers, but rather because they don’t find it politically convenient.

At the end of the day, our farmers and ranchers do not care if what we do is politically convenient. They do not care how the farm bill may or may not affect our odds of winning reelection or a higher political office. What our farmers and ranchers care about is doing the work they were put on this earth to do. They care about having the tools to be successful. They care about being able to stay on their land. They care about the certainty provided by a highly effective five-year farm bill.

We will see what the Democrats on House Ag decide to do soon enough. For me, the choice is easy: Our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities deserve members of Congress who will fight for their best interests.

As the House Committee on Agriculture, it is our responsibility to fight for those who feed, fuel, and clothe our country. Anyone who says otherwise has forgotten their duty.

It’s time to get to work. It’s time to get the farm bill done.

Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Pa., chairs the House Agriculture Committee.