Republicans advanced a farm bill through the House Agriculture Committee early Thursday, picking up significant Democratic support despite partisan clashes over food assistance cuts, ethanol policy and other issues. 

The committee approved the legislation 34-17 after rejecting a Democratic alternative  that included about $18 billion in farm assistance while delaying funding cuts to states administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

Seven Democrats broke ranks and supported the bill: Jim Costa of California, Sharice Davids of Kansas, Don Davis of North Carolina, Adam Gray of California, Kristen McDonald Rivet of Michigan, Josh Riley of New York and Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico.

It's not clear if the bill can pass the full House or Senate but it would authorize programs that couldn't be included in the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025. The OBBBA put more money into commodity programs, crop insurance and foreign market promotion while cutting nutrition assistance. Congress hasn't passed a full farm bill since 2018.

“This is a great farm bill,” said House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, noting that the legislation was made up of many provisions that had Democratic support. “You’re not going to find a more bipartisan bill.”

The committee’s top Democrat, Angie Craig of Minnesota, called the legislation a “shell of a farm bill” that will have trouble getting Democratic support on the House floor, “if it makes it there.”

Policy and procedural disputes dominated the committee's marathon markup of what Thompson, R-Pa., has called a “skinny” farm bill. With midterm elections just months away, Republicans and Democrats accused each other of playing politics. 

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Democrats offered up a raft of amendments aimed at restoring last year's cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling out increased grocery prices squeezing Americans and higher demand at food pantries across the country.

Thompson stressed that he wanted to more to strengthen SNAP in the legislation, such as allowing formerly imprisoned people access to food benefits, but budgetary constraints and an "inability to have a bipartisan dialogue on offsets" got in the way.

Craig said leaving nutrition assistance out of the legislation after cutting SNAP in the OBBBA could herald the end of bipartisan farm bills.

"For some of us, this is your first farm bill markup, for all of us, it could likely be our last, because by decimating the nutrition title of the farm bill, by splitting the food and farm programs apart, as Republicans have done in this process, you have destroyed the farm bill coalition," she said before a vote on an amendment to undo SNAP cuts made in the OBBBA.

Thompson responded that the farm-food coalition “broke a long time ago.” 

E15 drama 

The long-time push by biofuel producers and corn farmers to enshrine year-round and nationwide availability of E15 into law showed up in a farm bill amendment on Wednesday despite Thompson previously saying that while he supports E15, it couldn't go in the legislation because a different committee, Energy and Commerce, has jurisdiction.

Democrats unsuccessfully challenged a point of order against the amendment that kept it from being considered. But Democrats may have gained a campaign talking point by forcing Republicans to vote to sustain the point of order. 

“I’m tired of giving our power away,” Craig, who is running for a Senate seat in Minnesota, said in response to Thompson's decision that the amendment wasn't germane.  “I think we should raise hell here today … let’s pass year-round E15. Let’s put it in the skinny bill, then maybe it’s not so skinny.” 

U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran, and the Middle Eastern country's retaliation in the region, also are bolstering the ethanol industry's case that ethanol is a lower-cost, home-grown product.

"Who knows where gas prices are going to go, because we've got more than a dozen countries in the Middle East in the beginning of a war," Sorensen said. "We keep going this route, American farmers are going to face economic conditions rivaling the 1980s farm crisis. We need certainty for farmers and for my neighbors at the pump, so that they don't go bankrupt."

Thompson said he believes the "time is right" for E15 and it needs to get done, but not through the Ag Committee. 

'Hissy fit'

Another tense moment emerged when Thompson backed an amendment from Democratic Rep. Adam Gray of Calif. that would allow states to reallocate 20% of their federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) funds to an initiative that allows schools to use federal money to buy fresh, domestic produce.

Craig questioned why Thompson didn’t include it in the proposed bill as requested by Democrats. Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn, accused Craig of having a “hissy fit” and engaging in “political theater” while running for a Senate seat in Minnesota. 

“I'm not sure what a hissy fit looks like to you, but you haven't seen me throw a hissy fit. But if you want me to, I just might,” Craig shot back.” And if you want me to come back to your congressional district and do another town hall because you won't do one, I might do that as well.”

Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson, who’s running for governor in South Dakota, said Thompson "deserves a lot of credit for how patient he's been."

"You know, clearly, high-profile markups can sometimes turn political. I think GT has done a good job of trying to reduce the temperature in the room," Johnson said. "You know, of 181 marker bills that form this farm bill, 149 were from bipartisan sponsors and 14 were Democrat only, 18 were Republican only. GT has done a good job of reminding people that, overwhelmingly, this work product really has been a bipartisan work product."

'Yogurt-Off'

There also were moments of levity during the debate that started Tuesday evening.

As part of discussion on an amendment to include low-added sugar yogurt to Dairy Nutrition Incentives Programs, representatives from Wisconsin and New York got competitive about yogurt. GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden touted Wisconsin-based Yodelay while Democratic Rep. Josh Riley lauded New York-based Chobani. 

When Van Orden suggested a "lactose summit," Riley said he accepted the "yogurt-off." 

Among the amendments the committee debated:

  • 'Failure to Warn':  The committee rejected an amendment to strip language from the bill designed to prevent plaintiffs from bringing state “failure to warn” claims against pesticide manufacturers.
  • Proposition 12: An expected debate over language in the bill to prevent states from passing animal husbandry laws that affect other states never materialized. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., introduced but then withdrew his amendment to strike the language from the bill, which would invalidate Proposition 12, the California law that makes it illegal to sell pork in the state derived from sows raised in gestation crates.The National Pork Producers Council and American Farm Bureau Federation have sought to overturn Prop 12, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023. Costa said he planned to continue working on the issue. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said there is not a consensus in the House or Senate to invalidate Prop. 12.
  • EQIP: The bill would move $1 billion in near-term funding out of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to help stand up other conservation programs, a change that Democrats raised issue with during the markup. While the bill does not change program funding levels from 2031 onward, it would slightly reduce levels from FY27 through FY30 EQIP that were previously laid out in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the budget reconciliation bill used to enact President Donald Trump’s legislative priorities last year. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., proposed an amendment to reverse the proposed funding change, noting the program’s high application rate and arguing that conservation funding “is not a slush fund.
    Even with the reductions in EQIP funding, Thompson said overall funding for the program will still remain 54% above the January 2025 baseline for the program, and more than what was proposed in the 2024 farm bill. 
  • Hemp: Rep. Angie Craig, the panel's highest-ranking Democrat, offered an amendment on behalf of Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., who was absent due to the death of his wife. The measure, which Craig ultimately withdrew, would have delayed by two years the redefining of hemp that took place as part of a funding bill late last year, without full congressional consideration. The controversial law has caused "market uncertainty and widespread economic anxiety among farmers, processors, retailers and consumers," Craig said.
  • Food waste: The amendment was adopted from Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, to add "reducing food loss and food waste" as a priority area under the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
  • USMCA: An amendment from Rep. Adam Gray, D-Calif., was adopted that would require an administration report on how any expected or implemented modification or revocation of any part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement would affect the imports and exports of agricultural commodities.
  • Winter wheat: An amendment from Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., was adopted that would direct the Natural Resources Conservation Service to study the impacts of winter wheat as a cover crop through harvest and report their findings to the House Agriculture Committee. 

With contributions from Oliver Ward.