US House farm bill advances with Prop 12 relief but no year-round E15
The U.S. House passed the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026, but left year-round E15 out of the package. Farm groups backed several trade, credit and rural policy provisions while warning that important gaps remain.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026 by a 224-200 vote after the agriculture sector spent eight years operating under the previous farm bill with three extensions. The measure now moves to the Senate, which has not yet introduced its own version. House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson said the legislation reflected more than 150 listening sessions held in farm country and rural communities.
The House package includes enhancements to standing disaster programmes, expanded eligibility and a framework for future support to specialty crops. It also reauthorises major programmes across conservation, rural development, research, trade, energy and specialty crops. Lawmakers added provisions aimed at expanding export promotion, improving access to credit for farmers and ranchers, investing in broadband, rural health care, water infrastructure and workforce development, and backing precision agriculture and voluntary conservation programmes.
One of the most closely watched omissions was year-round E15. The legislation did not include a provision allowing the higher ethanol blend to be sold throughout the year, and a separate vote is expected in mid-May. The National Pork Producers Council focused instead on the bill’s relief from California Proposition 12, the state law that set minimum confinement-space requirements for veal calves, breeding pigs and egg-laying hens whose products are shipped into California. The group also highlighted funding for feral swine control, stronger trade promotion and the creation of an Agricultural Trade Enforcement Task Force.
Illinois Soybean Growers said the bill contains conservation funding, the Plant Biostimulant Act, wider access to credit, precision agriculture support, and reauthorisation of BioPreferred and biorefinery assistance programmes. At the same time, the organisation warned that removing the Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act could create regulatory uncertainty and limit farmer access to crop protection tools. It also argued that crop insurance must be modernised so coverage keeps pace with rising input costs while staying affordable.
The National Corn Growers Association said corn producers are in a fourth straight year of net losses and still need year-round E15 to expand ethanol demand. Livestock, wheat and Farm Bureau groups broadly welcomed the House vote, but the National Farmers Union said the bill largely preserves an outdated safety-net structure and misses chances to tackle market concentration, input cost pressure, country-of-origin labelling and domestic market expansion. The Senate debate will now determine how much of the House agriculture agenda survives in the final farm bill.