The Senate will start moving its fiscal 2026 spending bills, including the Agriculture bill that funds USDA and FDA. The ag bill won’t attempt to move Food for Peace to USDA, as originally proposed in the House. But you can expect report language calling for an evaluation to determine the best home for the program once housed at USAID. 

Ag Appropriations Subcommittee Chair John Hoeven, R-N.D., said panel members attempted to follow the House version of the bill, but there were changes to make it more bipartisan. 

The original House version included a provision moving Food for Peace to the Agriculture Department. This was later removed through a manager's amendment. Hoeven said there was no agreement in his subcommittee on how to handle the program.

He told reporters Wednesday he’s worked closely with ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to ensure the bill is not derailed. But he did say there are four to five items that could “hit some bumps.” 

USDA pushes ‘back to basics’ approach at FAO, touts Codex

A USDA delegation has returned from the 44th Session of the Conference of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization touting the benefits of the organization’s work on international standard-setting but pushing for a pared-back approach.

“The U.S. sees FAO at a crossroads,” Deputy Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Michelle Bekkering said during the session in Rome, according to a USDA statement.

“One path is business as usual — more mandates, more meetings, more process, slow progress. The other path brings us back to basics and results — focusing on FAO’s core mission and making a real and sustainable difference on the ground.”

The statement also describes meetings between officials in which USDA “underscored the importance of Codex Alimentarius to supporting American agriculture and fostering trade.”

Why it matters: The future of U.S. engagement with a raft of intergovernmental organizations, including the FAO, is still in limbo. A Feb. 4 executive order directed the State Department to review U.S. membership of all groups and provide recommendations to the president on possible withdrawal by Aug. 3.

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No Senate timeline for farm bill 2.0

Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., said he’s committed to passing a skinny farm bill by the end of the year but doesn’t necessarily have the same fall deadline as his House counterpart.  

On Tuesday, House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa., told reporters he’s eyeing September to move on a farm bill with provisions not included in the GOP’s One Big, Beautiful Bill. 

Boozman said the committee will survey members on both sides of the aisle to determine what’s left for the bill and start to put that together. But there’s no timeline yet. 

“It’s a little different in the Senate,” Boozman said. “What they can do in two hours, it takes us a week to do.” 

NOAA administrator pick vows weather service staffing will be ‘top priority’

President Donald Trump’s pick for administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told senators Wednesday he supports proposed research budget cuts at the agency and will focus on ensuring National Weather Service offices are staffed.

“It’s really important for the people to be there, because they have relationships with the people in the local community,” Neil Jacobs, a former Commerce Department under secretary for oceans and atmosphere, said of NWS offices. 

He went on to say that if confirmed, he’d be focused on “consolidating the data, not consolidating the people.”

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee held the hearing.

USDA scraps NEPA reviews for GE plants

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service will no longer prepare environmental impact analyses before approving genetically engineered seeds, the agency says in a message to stakeholders.

APHIS says it is complying with a recent Supreme Court decision that limited the scope of reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.

In line with the decision from the court in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, “there is no role for NEPA in the agency’s response to a petition for determination of nonregulated status,” APHIS says.

That is because “APHIS has no ability to consider any factors or environmental impacts beyond the factual and scientific information that is relevant to determining whether an article is a ‘regulated article’” under what are known as Part 340 regulations, the agency says.

“NEPA requires consideration of environmental impacts only if such consideration would result in information on which the agency could act,” APHIS says.

Hemp orgs form working group

Four industrial hemp organizations are banding together to promote their industry through the creation of a new working group.

The Hemp Education and Marketing Initiatives, the National Hemp Association, the Hemp Feed Coalition and the U.S. Hemp Building Association have formed the group to "align efforts around policy, market development, education, funding, and stakeholder engagement," according to a press release.

“The HEMI Working Group brings structure and clarity to a promising sector long fragmented by misinformation and missed opportunities," National Hemp Association Chair Geoff Whaling says.

Final word

My colleagues “might be talking about it. I’m trying to get over the last one.” — Senate Ag Chair John Boozman, R-Ark., on prospects for a second budget reconciliation bill.

Rebekah Alvey, Oliver Ward and Noah Wicks contributed to today’s Daybreak.