HR7567-119

What This Bill Does

The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 is a broad farm-bill reauthorization. It extends commodity and price-support authorities through 2031, creates or updates disaster assistance for specialty crops and block grants, keeps marketing assistance loans operating during appropriations lapses, expands storage facility loans, restores tobacco as an agricultural commodity under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, and adds domestic food-production supply-chain considerations. It reauthorizes and modifies conservation programs, including the Conservation Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, state soil health assistance, feral swine eradication, watershed and emergency conservation programs, Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, a new forest conservation easement program, Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and conservation technical assistance. It transfers several Food for Peace and international food-aid authorities from USAID to the Secretary of Agriculture, revises food-aid quality assurance, international food relief partnerships, pre-positioning, nonemergency food assistance, farmer-to-farmer programs, and foreign market promotion. It also continues or revises rural development loans and grants for broadband, water, waste, hospitals, rural businesses, cooperatives, microentrepreneurs, health services, NOAA weather radio transmitters, utility infrastructure, and 911 access. The research title extends large numbers of USDA research, extension, education, veterinary, land-grant, 1890 institution, Tribal student, Hispanic-serving institution, organic, specialty crop, food safety, youth organization, aquaculture, biosecurity, and agricultural technology programs. Other titles affect nutrition, forestry, energy, horticulture, crop insurance, livestock disease, animal health, USDA administration, and national-security-related program controls.

Who Benefits and How

Commodity crop producers benefit from extended price-support and marketing-loan authorities, and specialty crop producers benefit from a framework for direct assistance after adverse events. Dairy producers and dairy processors benefit from continued dairy authorities and mandatory reporting of dairy product processing costs. Conservation program participants benefit from extended acreage, funding, easement, soil health, feral swine, wetland, watershed, forest, and regional partnership tools. Agricultural landowners and forest landowners benefit from easement and reserve programs that pay for conservation, restoration, and management commitments. U.S. agricultural exporters and Food for Peace implementing partners benefit from USDA-led trade promotion, common-name protection, international food relief, commodity pre-positioning, and farmer-to-farmer authorities. SNAP households, school meal operators, food banks, and nutrition education providers benefit where the bill extends or revises food assistance and nutrition education authorities. Rural communities benefit from continued USDA Rural Development assistance for broadband, water systems, business development, cooperatives, rural hospitals, microentrepreneurs, electric utilities, 911 access, weather radio transmitters, and community facilities. Agricultural researchers, veterinary shortage communities, 1890 land-grant universities, Tribal colleges, Hispanic-serving institutions, Alaska Native-serving institutions, Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, community colleges, organic researchers, food-safety educators, and youth agricultural organizations benefit from extended grant, scholarship, facility, extension, and research programs.

Who Bears the Burden and How

USDA program staff must administer hundreds of extended or revised authorities across the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Foreign Agricultural Service, Rural Development, Food and Nutrition Service, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Forest Service, Risk Management Agency, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Commodity Credit Corporation. State agriculture departments, state conservation agencies, Tribal governments, conservation partners, public universities, rural utilities, and food-aid implementers must apply new eligibility, reporting, matching, consultation, and grant-management rules. Farm lenders, crop insurance providers, dairy processors, meat processors, pesticide registrants, livestock markets, and rural business investment companies may face new reporting, underwriting, eligibility, or compliance requirements depending on the program. Federal budget managers and congressional agriculture committees must oversee multi-year authorizations through 2031, program transfers from USAID to USDA, new reports, and program funding constraints. Some program applicants lose eligibility where the bill creates limitations, wetland restrictions, repeal provisions, or national-security-oriented controls.

Key Provisions

• Extends commodity support, conservation, trade, rural development, research, forestry, energy, horticulture, crop insurance, and livestock authorities generally through fiscal year 2031.
• Creates a specialty crop emergency assistance framework and permits block grants for covered agricultural losses.
• Requires dairy product processing cost reporting and continues dairy-related authorities.
• Expands conservation assistance through CRP, EQIP, CSP, state soil health assistance, feral swine control, watershed programs, emergency conservation, agricultural easements, forest easements, and regional conservation partnerships.
• Transfers Food for Peace implementation and related food-aid assets, liabilities, orders, contracts, grants, and authorities from USAID to the Secretary of Agriculture.
• Extends agricultural trade promotion, common-name protection, food-aid pre-positioning, minimum nonemergency food assistance, micronutrient fortification, and farmer-to-farmer programs.
• Continues and revises rural development assistance for broadband, water systems, waste management, business development, cooperatives, hospitals, microentrepreneurs, health care services, weather radio, utility infrastructure, and 911 access.
• Extends research, extension, education, veterinary, land-grant, Tribal, Hispanic-serving institution, organic, specialty crop, food-safety, aquaculture, biosecurity, and agricultural technology programs.
• Revises nutrition, forestry, horticulture, crop insurance, livestock, animal health, and USDA administrative programs with new reports, eligibility rules, and program controls.