House Agriculture Committee Advances Farm Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Agriculture Committee held a markup of their proposed Farm Bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R.7567) on March 3 and 4, passing the bill out of committee 34 – 17. Seven Democrats joined Republicans to pass the measure. The bill faces an uncertain path forward, with the majority of House Democrats and some Republicans expected to oppose. A Senate proposal is also expected in the coming months.

Heated debate on SNAP, pesticides

Debate on the House Farm Bill was at times heated. After some fraught discussion, the Committee ultimately rejected several amendments that would have reversed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) made under last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.1). These amendments would have eliminated new state cost sharing requirements, changes to work requirements, and cuts to SNAP benefits. While H.R. 1 exempted members of Tribes from SNAP work requirements, other changes could lead to decreased benefits for Tribal members (read IFAI’s analysis of H.R.1’s nutrition provisions and impact on Tribal communities here). The Committee also rejected an amendment to restore SNAP-Ed funding, a nutrition education program that supported several Tribal initiatives that was eliminated in H.R.1.

The Committee additionally declined to pass an amendment that would have removed some controversial provisions regulating pesticides. Among other changes, the Farm Bill would limit the ability of States and local governments to regulate pesticides beyond federal requirements. It would also protect manufacturers from lawsuits related to pesticide health impacts if the pesticides are used in keeping with federal law.

 No 638 for FDPIR

The Committee did not consider an amendment offered by Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kans.) to make 638 authority for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Affairs (FDPIR) permanent. The 2018 Farm Bill established a self-determination pilot program for Tribes to procure foods under FDPIR. To date, 16 Tribes have successfully participated in the program. An earlier version of the Farm Bill introduced by the Committee in 2024 included a provision making the pilot program permanent.

During last week’s markup, House Agriculture Chairman G.T. Thompson (R-Penn.) indicated that permanent 638 authority for FDPIR was omitted from the bill due to cost and lack of agreement on a pay for. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) previously estimated that 638 for FDPIR would increase costs of the program by 70%, an increase of $380 million over nine years. IFAI, as well as members of the Native Farm Bill Coalition, have expressed opposition to CBO’s score and called on CBO to provide more information on their calculation. Rep. Davids indicated that she will continue working with the Committee to include 638 authority for FDPIR.

Other amendments may benefit Native producers

The Committee did adopt several amendments that may benefit Tribes and Tribal producers. Below, IFAI highlights some key changes.

Education

• Waives cost-sharing requirements for Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to receive funding from the New Beginnings for Tribal Students program, a competitive grant program for land-grant universities to support Native students. TCUs are funded through a different mechanism than land-grant universities, resulting in significantly less federal funding. Eliminating cost sharing requirements for TCUs would better allow these critical institutions to reach more Native students.
• Allows research grants to TCUs to be used for acquiring, repairing, maintaining, and operating research equipment, advancing parity between TCUs and other land-grant institutions.
• Directs USDA to make recommendations for land-grant universities to provide technical assistance on heirs property and other issues related to transferring agricultural land and assets to the next generation of farmers. Native producers face unique challenges passing land to the next generation for a variety of reasons, including historic fractionization of land and a lengthy, complex probate process. While this amendment does not specifically address these challenges, Native producers may benefit from targeted assistance from land-grant universities. TCUs may be especially well equipped to provide this assistance.

Conservation

• Allows funds under the Emergency Conservation Program to be used for virtual fencing. New technologies such as virtual fencing have high up-front costs, making them inaccessible for Native producers. Allowing federal assistance to be used for virtual fencing, in addition to traditional fencing, may offer more flexibility to Native producers.
• Directs USDA to study the feasibility of allowing cattle producers using Livestock Risk Protection policies to sell cattle outside the standard contract window without penalty if due to adverse weather events such as fires.
• Streamlines approval of minor range improvements on Forest Service grazing allotments by allowing permittees to proceed after notification and requiring timely agency responses

For further information on the 2026 House Farm Bill, please see IFAI’s Key Takeaways for on the 2026 Farm Bill and Section-by-Section Analysis. You can also register for our Farm Bill Updates webinar, taking place on March 18, 2026, from 1:00-2:00pm Central.

Have questions about the Farm Bill or agricultural policy impacting Indian Country? Reach out to IFAI’s new Associate Director of Policy, Research, and Tribal Governance, Mai Nguyen, at mnguyen5@uark.edu