The Farm Bill’s Challenging Road to Passage
September 1, 2026
The farm bill is a very broad package of legislation, second only to the annual defense package in complexity and comprehensiveness. So, a wide spectrum of constituencies closely follow the farm bill’s policy proposals. However, there are a few main groups that tend to have the greatest sway in its outcomes.
The farm bill coalition is broadly three groups with differing interests in the agricultural industry, and together they are able to make compromises and pass a giant omnibus bill. An omnibus bill covers many topics, and, in the case of the farm bill, has traditionally been a 5-year law covering significant policies and expenditures on food, agriculture, and conservation. Typically, the farm bill coalition can be divided into three groups, each with their own focus:
Production Agriculture
This pillar of the farm bill coalition is primarily focused on the long-term viability of commonly large-scale commodity crop production. In the current debate, corn, soy, and wheat organizations have been advocating for updates to safety net programs called the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs. These programs provide some financial assurances to commodity producers who face market volatility and allow farmers to plan from year to year.
Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC)
The Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) Programs are federal programs administered by the Farm Service Agency. These programs mitigate risk for row crop producers by ensuring that they receive a specific price for their commodities. These prices use Congressionally established “reference prices” to determine payment rates. ARC and PLC were recently revised as part of P.L. 119-21.
Food & Nutrition Assistance Programs
The stakeholders of this group tend to be from more metropolitan areas; however, rural communities depend on food assistance programs as well. The group’s main focus is to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their distance to a farm, have access to nutritious food. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) are among the key priorities of this group.
Conservation
This pillar of the farm bill coalition looks to protect the nation’s natural resources and ensure that farmers and ranchers have access to the tools they need to make good conservation decisions on their farms. Programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SARE) are among this group’s key interests in the bill.
Because part of the farm bill was passed as part of the 2025 reconciliation package (P.L. 119-21), many organizations focused on the farm bill have been apprehensive that the farm bill coalition will no longer be motivated to pass comprehensive farm policy. Based on what we are seeing today, this remains a legitimate concern.
In addition to cuts to the program, P.L. 119-21 shifted the cost burden to states by requiring that states pay a cost share of the program based on their error rate. New Mexico has a SNAP error rate of more than 16.6% (the average rate nationally is 10.6%). It is important to understand that while this number includes overpayments that result from incomplete or incorrect documentation, it also includes underpayments. Underpayments happen when the government calculates a payment incorrectly and a participant receives less benefits as a result. New Mexico knows that our error rate will mean a potential federal penalty of at least $149 million and a potential cost of about $173 million to the state annually.
In Congress, Democrats have been sounding the alarm that many states will simply not be able to absorb the costs resulting from this massive policy change and Republicans have remained steadfast in their position that this is what is necessary to address government spending and fraud, waste, and abuse. While not the sole reason for the gridlock, this issue has resulted in an impasse with passing farm policy.
As nutrition is one of the core pillars for the farm bill coalition, support from nutrition- focused members of Congress will be needed to advance a farm bill. By passing parts of the farm bill in P.L. 199-21 and drastically reducing the benefits received by the nutrition programs, the farm bill coalition is severely fractured. Until all groups of this coalition can see their priorities reflected in the bill, it is possible that Congress will not be able to advance policy.