Senate to Begin Work on Farm Bill Within Weeks, Boozman Says

E&E News’ Marc Heller reported that “Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman said Monday he plans to soon take up a five-year farm bill, regardless of delays a similar bill may face in the House.”

“Asked at an agriculture policy conference when he plans to move a measure through his committee, Boozman said, ‘Weeks, not months,’ but did not offer specifics,” Heller reported. “Lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol have struggled for the better part of three years to make a new agriculture policy bill reality, hobbled by partisan troubles, an always-full legislative calendar and shifting priorities as the second Trump administration replaced the Biden administration.”

“But Boozman, an Arkansas Republican, told agriculture groups not to mistake delays for inaction, as lawmakers and congressional leadership are in discussions about advancing the bill,” Heller reported.

AgWired’s Cindy Zimmerman reported that “‘we want to get it done as soon as possible,’ (Boozman) said, noting the bill must clear 60 votes in the Senate. ‘We can’t be in a position that we hold up the farm bill because we simply cannot get the votes to get that done. So we’re going to work hard to try and accomplish it, but we’re going to get a farm bill passed.'”

“(Ranking Member Amy) Klobuchar stressed urgency amid tight margins, low commodity prices, high input costs and trade uncertainty,” Zimmerman reported. “‘This is a perfect storm of ugly,’ she said, quoting a Minnesota soybean farmer who saw the market for his crop in China disappear.”

“She called for year-round E15 sales, expanded conservation, disaster assistance for specialty crops and a delay in new SNAP cost-sharing penalties that hit Midwest states hardest. Both senators highlighted market-expansion priorities,” Zimmerman reported. “Boozman said boosting domestic demand is ‘the number one issue,’ pointing to E15, the Buying American Cotton Act and other value-added measures. Klobuchar echoed support for E15 and Renewable Fuel Standard improvements, adding she and Boozman recently held a hearing on local market opportunities.”

E15 Could be Included in the Senate Bill

Agri-Pulse’s Kim Chipman reported that “Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman says he’d be happy to put an authorization provision for year-round E15 in an upcoming farm bill, if the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee agrees to it. ‘If we can get that signed off, we’d be glad to stick it in there, for sure,’ the Arkansas Republican said at the Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit on Monday.”

“The EPW panel has official jurisdiction over any legislation that would allow year-round sales of higher ethanol blends, known as E15,” Chipman reported. “The Senate Ag Committee’s top-ranking Democrat, Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar, separately told the gathering at the National Press Club she’d like to see E15 in a farm bill.”

House Farm Bill Still Awaiting Full Floor Vote

The most recent action on the farm bill came at the beginning of March, when “after two days of debate, House Agriculture Committee members voted 34-17 to advance a new farm bill,” Farm Aid reported. “Four Democrats voted with Republicans to pass the bill. House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), says he intends to bring the bill to the full House floor for a vote by Easter (April 5).”

“Despite passing out of committee, the bill remains controversial and would likely be difficult to pass in the full House,” Farm Aid reported. “A particularly contentious aspect of the bill is its protections for pesticide companies from legal claims about pesticides’ health impacts. The inclusion of these provisions threatens Republican support from the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, which strongly opposes the measures.”

“Should the bill make it to the full House for a vote and pass there, it would still need to be passed by the Senate and then signed into law by the President,” Farm Aid reported. “So far, the Senate Agriculture Committee has not released a farm bill draft, making a timeline and next steps uncertain.”