Friends of the Earth U.S. Urges Opposition to Flawed Senate Farm Bill Proposal 

The Senate must reject corporate giveaways and massive cuts to conservation and invest in a healthier and more resilient food system 

WASHINGTON – The Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft Farm Bill, released today, largely mirrors the deeply flawed House bill. Unless significantly revised, the Senate proposal would disproportionately benefit large-scale agribusiness corporations, pesticide interests and large-scale commodity growers at the expense of food-insecure households, small and midsized farmers, and the environment. 

“The Senate Farm Bill proposal largely preserves the status quo—a system that rewards the biggest agribusiness corporations and entrenches a costly, chemical-intensive model of agriculture at the expense of organic and regenerative farmers, healthy food, rural communities, and the environment,” said Kari Hamerschlag, Deputy Director of Food and Agriculture at Friends of the Earth. “At a moment when families, farmers, and communities across the political spectrum are demanding a less toxic food system that prioritizes healthy, affordable food, and fair markets for farmers, the Senate must deliver a Farm Bill that redirects subsidies toward local economies, organic agriculture, and conservation programs that protect public health, strengthen rural communities, and safeguard our air, water, and climate.” 

At the same time, Friends of the Earth is encouraged that Senate Agriculture Committee leaders did not include either the so-called “Save Our Bacon Act” or a pesticide industry liability shield in the base text of the Farm Bill. Both proposals would have undermined longstanding protections for consumers, communities, and states. Their omission is an important step in the right direction, and the Senate should continue to reject efforts to add either provision as the bill advances. 

Instead, the Senate should use this moment to build a fundamentally better bill by: 

• Protecting SNAP and food access. The Senate bill must reverse the deep cuts to SNAP and SNAP-Ed, and strengthen support for families struggling with the rising cost of food. 

• Investing in organic and regenerative agriculture. Congress cannot afford to lock in another generation of chemical-intensive commodity agriculture. The Senate bill must include meaningful investments to help farmers transition to organic and regenerative practices and break the costly cycle of dependence on synthetic fertilizers and toxic pesticides. It should incorporate provisions from marker bills such as the Domestic Organic Investment Act, the Opportunities in Organic Act, and the Organic Science and Research Investment Act.  

• Investing in local and regional food systems. Congress should expand funding for schools and food banks to purchase fresh, locally produced food. It should also give school districts the flexibility to use their existing USDA Foods entitlement dollars to purchase food from local and regional producers—a commonsense reform endorsed by more than 450 farmers, school districts, nonprofits, and other stakeholders earlier this month. 

• Restoring and strengthening conservation funding and USDA staffing. The Senate Farm Bill draft proposes to cut nearly $2 billion from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) while steering subsidies toward the largest agribusiness operations. The Senate must reverse these cuts and reform EQIP to prioritize small and mid-scale farmers who are implementing practices that provide meaningful environmental benefits. Relatedly, the Trump Administration’s staffing cuts at USDA have left many NRCS and FSA offices understaffed or even with no staff left at all, undermining USDA’s ability to offer critical services to farmers and rural communities. 

• Strengthening the farm safety net for small and beginning farmers. The Senate Farm Bill should reform the farm safety net to better serve small, beginning, and diversified producers, rather than continuing to concentrate benefits among the largest commodity operations. 

• Removing the remaining provisions weakening pesticide regulations. The Senate Farm Bill contains provisions that would delay the critical health safety reviews of hundreds of pesticides and give USDA undue influence over pesticide reviews, including under the Endangered Species Act. The Senate must remove these sections.  

Media contact: Lindsay Tice, [email protected]