WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman is putting a new farm bill proposal on the table, with a broad package aimed at strengthening the safety net, expanding credit access, and addressing rural infrastructure needs.
The Arkansas Republican’s proposal, called the Agricultural Act of 2026, builds around commodity support, conservation, trade, nutrition, credit, rural development, research, forestry, energy, horticulture, crop insurance, and animal health.
For farmers and ranchers, the biggest near-term pieces are in the safety net. The plan would protect access to marketing assistance loans, reauthorize key dairy programs, expand disaster coverage for livestock and specialty crops, improve aid for feed and water hauling, and allow USDA to deliver disaster funding through state block grants.
The bill also raises Farm Service Agency loan limits, expands financing for young and beginning farmers, and allows storage facility loans to be used for propane or fertilizer storage. That could matter as land, equipment, operating, and input costs remain elevated.
Trade is another major piece. The proposal would more than double funding for the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program, create new technical assistance for emerging markets, and push agencies to defend common food names and specialty-crop competitiveness.
Rural America also gets a sizable role. The bill would codify the ReConnect broadband program, support on-farm connectivity for precision agriculture, expand access to rural health care and childcare, support small meat and poultry processors, and create cybersecurity support for rural water systems.
The measure also targets animal disease readiness, foreign ownership reporting, whole milk in school breakfast, fertilizer market studies, a crop inputs economist at USDA, and a new Commission on Rural Maternal Health.
The proposal is not the final farm bill. It is a Senate marker that sets priorities before negotiations over spending, nutrition policy, conservation, and House-Senate differences.
