Time is running out to get a much-needed farm bill across the finish line.

The first comprehensive update in nearly a decade narrowly failed to move out of the U.S. Senate’s Agriculture Committee on Aug. 6.

A partisan divide over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), combined with key Republican absences, ended hopes of sending the measure to the full Senate before a summer recess.

The Agriculture Act of 2026 is technically still alive. 

Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., plans to bring the measure back for consideration after senators return on Sept. 14. 

But he also told reporters it might take a “miracle” to get the bill signed into law before midterm elections in November. 

Sept. 30 expiration could hurt Arizona

The farm bill sets wide-reaching policy on how we grow food and manage natural resources. 

And because the last bill was signed in 2018, many of its provisions no longer adequately address the pressures on farmers and ranchers today. 

Congress temporarily extended the old bill’s provisions until Sept. 30. 

But once that authorization expires, rural development and specialty crop grants could end. New conservation program enrollments could stop, and some forest restoration efforts could be frozen.

That could have wide reaching effects on Arizona, even if SNAP benefits and crop insurance — the two largest programs in the farm bill — remain funded via other means.

SNAP concerns tanked the effort

The House passed its version of the farm bill with bipartisan support in May, raising hopes of a similar passage in the Senate. 

The Senate version contained similar high-level goals as the House version, though it notably lacked a provision to bar states from regulating out-of-state agricultural practices.

The bill improved access to credit, expanded investments in specialty crops, bolstered forest restoration efforts and enhanced university research — all efforts important to Arizona.

The American Farm Bureau Federation spearheaded a letter signed by more than 250 food and agricultural organizations, urging the committee to advance the bill with a bipartisan vote.

Senators filed more than 200 amendments to the bill ahead of the Aug. 6 markup. 

The committee passed a few before work stalled, including one with broad bipartisan support to require country-of-origin labeling on beef.

In the end, Democrats dug in on their contention that cost shifts to states for nutritional programs should be delayed for two years, instead of the year that Republicans proposed.

And the farm bill failed to advance by a 10-11 vote.


Joanna Allhands writes about water, land use and other issues important to the Arizona Farm Bureau. Reach her at joannaallhands@azfb.org.