Passing Farm Bill

Floor Speech

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Mr. MANN. Madam Speaker, farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers are the backbone of this country. They wake up before the sun, work until long after it sets, and take on risk every single day to feed, fuel, and clothe the world. Too often in Washington we ask them to do that work without the certainty and stability that they deserve.

The last fully enacted farm bill was passed in 2018. That might not seem like long ago in Washington, but in agriculture 6 years is a lifetime. Input costs and inflation surged under the mismanagement of the last administration. Markets are more volatile, and global competition has only intensified.

Our farmers do not need more uncertainty. They need predictability. They need policies that allow them to invest, plan, and efficiently keep their farms and ranches in their families.

That is why it was so critical that we passed what I call farm bill 1.0 last year. Through the Working Families Tax Cut Act, Republican majorities in Congress delivered the most significant investment in American agriculture in decades. We strengthened the farm safety net. We modernized crop insurance. We expanded access to commodity programs. We made historic investments in conservation, research, trade, and rural development. We delivered real tax relief to family farms and ranchers that operate on razor-thin margins.

Those policies lowered the cost of doing business, strengthened risk management tools, and gave producers more confidence to keep working in the face of uncertainty. From cattle ranchers to ag lenders, Americans in agriculture truly needed those policies. In short, it helped farmers weather economic pressure after 4 years of sky-high inflation that increased input costs by more than 36 percent under President Biden, but the job is not finished.

Farm bill 2.0 is about continuing what we started last summer. It is about taking that running start and delivering a fiscally responsible, 5-year farm bill that works for agricultural producers in the real world.

The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 does exactly that. This week, my colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee and I marked up the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, passing this legislation out of committee in a bipartisan fashion just a few hours ago.

This bill, which I consider farm bill 2.0, reflects the agriculture of today, not that of 2018. It strengthens commodity programs and disaster assistance so our Nation's producers are not left waiting on Congress every time drought, flood, wildfire, or disease strikes.

Farm bill 2.0 ensures dairy, livestock, and specialty crop producers have policies that match their risk. It protects crop insurance as the cornerstone of the farm safety net. It supports conservation programs that are locally led, voluntary, and practical.

The Farm, Food, and National Security Act expands access to credit and modernizes loan limits so producers can keep up with the capital- intensive nature of agriculture today. It strengthens rural development, broadband, water infrastructure, and rural hospitals, because agriculture does not exist in isolation. Strong farms require strong rural communities.

Importantly, the bill is built on a bedrock of fiscally conservative policy. A farm bill should provide certainty without growing government for the sake of growing government. It should prioritize the men and women who have dedicated their lives to American agriculture instead of prioritizing paperwork. It should set our farmers up for success without getting in their way, and it should respect the taxpayer while recognizing that a secure food supply is key to national security. I am proud to say that our farm bill 2.0 lives up to those conservative standards.

This is not about politics. It is about doing our job. Farmers and ranchers plan in seasons and decades, not in continuing resolutions and short-term extensions. Every delay makes it harder for them to make decisions about planting, equipment purchases, and land leases.

Passing a 5-year bill gives producers what they need most: certainty. It gives them certainty to invest, certainty to innovate, and certainty to keep feeding a hungry world. Farm bill 1.0 laid that foundation. Farm bill 2.0 will continue that work.

As part of my farm bill impact series, I have spoken on this floor 34 times advocating for Congress to pass a farm bill, and this legislation is exactly what I have spent so long advocating for: the farm bill that builds on the agricultural wins we passed last year, and most importantly, the farm bill that our farmers and ranchers are depending on.

Madam Speaker, I call on the rest of my colleagues to recognize our bipartisan hard work and pass this legislation for the good of our farmers, our food supply, and our national security because when farmers succeed, America succeeds.

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