By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

After more than four hours of debate, the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry failed to come to an agreement to move the farm bill forward Thursday, Aug. 6.

The Agricultural Act of 2026 failed in a 10 to 11 party line vote.

“Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) is very disappointed the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry failed to advance Chairman Boozman’s ‘Agriculture Act of 2026,’” TFB President Russell Boening said.

The bill featured year-round E15, updates and increases to credit and loan limits, and expanded programs and support for risk management tools for specialty crop growers.

“Chairman Boozman and his team worked in good faith to build bipartisan support for a new farm bill,” Boening said. “The committee’s failure to act is a major setback in passing a modern farm bill this Congress leaves Texas farm and ranch families held hostage to political theater.”

After the vote, Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) said he is deeply disappointed democrats on the ag committee voted against advancing the farm bill.

“We have a responsibility to stand with America’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Everyone recognizes the serious challenges they continue to face, and blocking the farm bill only adds to the uncertainty and hardship,” Boozman posted on X.

Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) told the committee democrats opposed the bill because it included a single year delay in the cost share for states for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) rather than the two-year delay they sought.

“We simply are asking for two years, which by the way, is only 10% of the total SNAP cuts made in the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,” Klobuchar said. “We are really focused on making this bill better, and we would like to get this done for rural America as well as for the country.”

The chairman said it’s not about SNAP recipients.

“This is about the states with very, very high error rates. We’re holding hostage our farm community. When you take livestock out of it, this is one of the poorest industries right now in America,” Boozman said. “It’s not just farmers and ranchers, it’s rural America. We’re charged to help them, and right now we’re not able to do that because of this.”

More than 200 amendments were initially offered on the farm bill.

Boozman initially unveiled the 900-plus page legislation in late June, calling it the next step in strengthening America’s farm economy.

He said “farm bill 2.0” builds upon changes made to improvements made to Title 1 crop programs made through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act last year, bolsters animal health programs, addresses barriers to trade, expands the Livestock Indemnity Program, expands rural broadband and includes more than 100 bipartisan bills.

“These are families who rise before dawn every day to grow the food, fuel, and fiber that sustain our nation. They aren’t asking for special treatment. They’re asking for the certainty and support they need to keep farming. They’re looking for us to act. They’re looking to us for hope,” Boozman said. “This farm bill provides that hope. It gives producers the tools and the confidence they need to keep farming, keep investing and keeping it such that they feed America.”

He said the legislation is about far more than agricultural policy.

“It’s about ensuring family farms remain valuable, rural communities remain strong, and future generations have the opportunity to carry forward America’s proud agriculture tradition,” Boozman said. “We’ve built a farm bill for the people who feed America.”

Klobuchar expressed her support for the provisions in the bill that allow year-round sales of E15, increased resources for trade promotion and other bipartisan efforts like strengthening the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network.

“The bill also includes several items I have championed with Leader Thune, like the new fertilizer price reporting system and parts of our proposal to improve and add flexibility to the Conservation Reserve Program,” Klobuchar said. “I want us to get to a bipartisan agreement. I think people know that that is how I have operated in this place and that’s what I want to get done.”

She said that includes working together to make improvements to the farm bill before it passes out of the Senate Ag Committee, which includes addressing the changes to SNAP.

The Senate farm bill improves accessibility and expands eligibility for existing commodity, dairy and standing disaster programs, according to a summary provided by the U.S. Senate Ag Committee.

Boozman can call the committee back to vote on the farm bill again when they return to Washington.

The Senate began its 5-week recess Friday.

The House Agriculture Committee passed their version of the farm bill, The Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026, in a 34-17 vote March 5.

The legislation passed the House of Representatives in a 224-200 vote April 30.