New Corporate Welfare Farm Bill Stuffed with Poison Pills 

As farmers are squeezed by tariffs, soaring input costs, and economic uncertainty, House Agriculture Republicans released a Farm Bill earlier this week that does nothing to address these real crises. Instead, it is packed with giveaways to Big Ag and the pesticide industry.  

The Farm Bill is an opportunity to support American farming communities while investing in a healthy, sustainable future. Instead, the Republicans of the House Agriculture committee, including Chairman Thompson (R-PA), are using the pressure to pass this important legislation as cover for advancing the top priorities of some of the largest polluters in our food system.  

This bill isn’t designed to pass. It’s meant to send a clear signal of House Republicans’ vision for our food system: pesticide manufacturers, industrial livestock producers, mega-farms and corporate ag polluters come first, while public health, the environment, and organic and regenerative farmers get short shrift. The “poison pills” in this bill represent a coordinated assault on public health, animal welfare, and environmental protections, turning the Farm Bill into a near-unprecedented corporate welfare package.  

For instance, Section 10205 would effectively shield pesticide companies from lawsuits — even though it doesn’t explicitly say so. The result of this rider would make it much harder for people suffering from cancer and other illness associated with pesticide exposure to win court cases, creating what amounts to legal immunity for pesticide companies.  

Section 10206 goes further, stripping local governments’ ability nationwide to regulate pesticides. This would overturn groundbreaking county ordinances like the ban in Montgomery County, Maryland on synthetic pesticide use or similar ordinances in places like Portland, Maine that are far stronger than state or federal standards.  

Section 12006 takes aim at animal welfare and states’ rights by overturning California’s Proposition 12, which bans some of the most extreme forms of animal confinement. In one sweep, it would overturn hundreds of state and local laws that protect food safety, support family farmers and ranchers, safeguard the environment, and advance more humane agricultural practices. 

These provisions are just a small sample of the benefits this bill delivers to massive polluters like Big Ag and the pesticide industry while offering little for the people the Farm Bill is supposed to serve: family farmers, organic and regenerative producers, farmworkers, communities across the country, and all of us who depend on access to healthy food.   

A Farm Bill that truly works for people would look very different. Real solutions already exist in bills that point toward a healthier, brighter future for our food system. Among them are:  

• S. 2324, the Pesticide Injury Accountability Act of 2025, which would guarantee people’s ability to sue pesticide companies for harm caused by their products.  
• H.R. 411, the EQIP Improvement Act of 2025, which would reform the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to ensure more small and mid-scale farmers and ranchers have access to conservation dollars and practices that provide effective environmental and public health benefits.  
• S. 3427/H.R. 6593, the Domestic Organic Investment Act of 2025, which would support organic farming by making a special grant permanent to support domestic organic farmers, processors, and regional supply chains.  
• H.R. 2435, the Save Our Small Farms Act of 2025, which would strengthen the safety net for small and diversified farms that lack access to traditional insurance options. 
• S. 3471/H.R. 6706, the EFFECTIVE Food Procurement Act, which would direct USDA to prioritize purchasing food that supports independent family farms, sustainability, and animal welfare, supporting local farm economies and increasing access to healthy food.  

The House Republican Farm Bill is a massive gift to the pesticide industry, Big Ag, and some of the nation’s worst polluters. A better path may eventually be possible—one that shifts subsidies away from chemical-intensive commodity crops towards diversified organic and regenerative agriculture, protects public health and the environment from pesticides, upholds states’ strong animal welfare protections, and builds a healthier and brighter future for our food system. But putting an end to this vast corporate welfare package would surely be a good start.