No new farm bill has become law. The House passed its version, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, on April 30, 2026, and the Senate Agriculture Committee approved its own bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026, on September 16. The full Senate has not voted, the two versions still have to be merged, and the extension of the old 2018 farm bill expired on September 30, 2026. A final deal is now expected, if at all, in the lame-duck session after the November 3 election.

What is the farm bill in simple terms?

The farm bill is a large, multi-year law that sets the rules and much of the funding for America's food and farm programs. Congress usually renews it about every five years. Despite the name, most of its money goes to food assistance, not farms.

It is organized into sections called titles. The main ones are:

Nutrition dominates the budget. A Congressional Budget Office projection cited during the Senate debate puts mandatory farm bill spending at about $1.374 trillion over 2026-2036, of which about $985 billion is for nutrition programs, according to reporting on the Senate markup. Linking farm and food programs in one bill is deliberate: it builds a coalition of rural and urban lawmakers needed to pass it.

Has the 2026 farm bill passed yet?

No. Here is how far each chamber has got, based on the National Association of Counties' farm bill timeline:

To become law, the bill must pass the full Senate, where it will likely need 60 votes and therefore some Democratic support, then be reconciled with the House version, pass both chambers again in identical form, and be signed by the president.

What is the current status of the farm bill?

The farm bill is stuck between the committee stage and the Senate floor. Senators left Washington for the campaign break on September 30, and Boozman has said he does not expect serious negotiations with the House during the October recess.

The most likely route to a deal is a pre-negotiated agreement between the four leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, Republicans Boozman and Glenn "GT" Thompson and Democrats Amy Klobuchar and Angie Craig, which would then be brought to the Senate floor. That agreement would have to bridge the SNAP dispute that split the Senate committee.

Why did Democrats vote against the farm bill?

Senate Democrats opposed the committee bill mainly because of food assistance. The 2025 reconciliation law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, cut SNAP spending by an estimated $186 billion and required states to start paying a share of SNAP benefit costs, along with more of the program's administrative costs.

Chairman Boozman's bill would delay the state cost-share by one year. Democrats, led by Klobuchar, asked for two years, arguing that this would cover only about a tenth of the reconciliation law's SNAP cuts, and they voted unanimously against the bill in August. Democrats from states such as Minnesota, where counties run SNAP, said the cost shift would push up local property taxes.

Republicans argue that their bill contains more than 100 bipartisan provisions, including a stronger farm safety net, more research funding, year-round sales of E15 gasoline, higher farm loan limits and help for rural water systems, and that Democrats were blocking all of it over a single issue. When the committee voted again in September, the bill passed 12-11 after Senator Mitch McConnell returned from a three-month absence to cast the deciding vote.

What's in the 2026 farm bill?

The House and Senate bills differ in detail but share several themes:

• A stronger safety net for farmers, building on higher price guarantees and crop insurance support added in the 2025 reconciliation law, which supporters call "Farm Bill 1.0." The new bills are often called "Farm Bill 2.0" for that reason.
• SNAP changes, including how and when states take on a share of benefit costs.
• Year-round E15 sales in the Senate bill, a long-standing goal of corn-state lawmakers and ethanol producers.
• Credit and storage measures, such as higher Farm Service Agency loan limits and fertilizer storage eligibility for farm storage loans.
• Rural development, including reauthorizing rural water infrastructure programs through fiscal 2031.
• Conservation and research, including funding levels for land and water programs and agricultural research at universities and federal labs.

Who does the farm bill affect?

Almost everyone, though most people never notice it directly. The groups with the most at stake are:

• Farmers and ranchers, who rely on its price and revenue support, subsidized crop insurance, disaster aid and Farm Service Agency loans. Long delays make it harder to plan planting, borrowing and equipment purchases.
• SNAP households, about 40 million people in a typical month, whose eligibility rules and benefit levels are shaped by the nutrition title.
• States and counties, which administer SNAP and now face new cost-sharing requirements from the 2025 reconciliation law.
• Rural communities, which depend on its grants and loans for water systems, broadband, housing and local businesses.
• Shoppers, because farm programs, trade promotion and research funding all feed into food supply and prices over time.
• Food banks, which receive commodities through emergency food assistance programs written into the bill.

That breadth is why the bill attracts so many interest groups, from farm bureaus and commodity associations to anti-hunger organizations and environmental groups, and why reaching a deal that satisfies enough of them takes years rather than months.

What happens now that the farm bill has expired?

Less than the word "expired" suggests, at least in the short term. Most farm programs do not stop immediately. Boozman has said the Agriculture Department can take administrative steps to keep programs running through the end of the year while negotiations continue. SNAP benefits continue because they are funded through the annual appropriations process, currently a stopgap that runs to December 11.

The longer-term risk is the so-called dairy cliff. If no new farm bill or extension is enacted, some commodity programs eventually revert to "permanent law" written in 1938 and 1949, which could force the government to support milk prices at levels far above today's market. That threat has historically pushed Congress to act around the turn of the year.

This is the fourth year running that the farm bill has lapsed. The 2018 law technically expired in 2023 and has been extended three times, most recently in the law that ended the government shutdown in November 2025.

What happens next?

When Congress returns on November 9, lawmakers will have to choose between finishing a new five-year bill and passing a fifth extension of the 2018 law. The farm bill will compete for time with fiscal 2027 government funding, the annual defense bill and other year-end deadlines in a short lame-duck session. A common outcome in the past has been to attach a farm bill extension, or the farm bill itself, to the year-end spending package.

The election may tip the balance. If party control of Congress is set to change in January, both sides will weigh whether a deal now is better than starting again with a new Congress, where committee leaders and priorities could be different.

Where things stand in October 2026

The House-passed Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 and the Senate committee's Agricultural Act of 2026 are both awaiting the next step. The extension of the 2018 farm bill lapsed on September 30, programs are running on administrative measures, and a Senate floor vote is expected after Congress returns on November 9.

Frequently asked questions

How often is the farm bill renewed?

Roughly every five years. The last full farm bill was enacted in 2018 and has been extended since it expired in 2023.

Does the farm bill affect food stamps?

Yes. SNAP, the program once known as food stamps, is part of the farm bill and makes up most of its spending.

What is the dairy cliff?

It refers to the risk that, without a new farm bill or extension, dairy support reverts to decades-old permanent law, which could sharply raise government-set milk prices.

Who writes the farm bill?

The House and Senate Agriculture Committees, led in 2026 by Representative Glenn Thompson and Senator John Boozman, with Representative Angie Craig and Senator Amy Klobuchar as the senior Democrats.

Why is the farm bill so hard to pass?

It combines farm support and food assistance in one package, so it needs agreement on both, and SNAP has become one of the most partisan issues in the bill.