House Ag Farm Bill Ready For Markup Next Week
Politoco
House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) has finally released his eagerly awaited farm bill text and has scheduled a markup for the week of Feb. 23, but the package is facing obstacles that make advancing it look like a tall task.
Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the Ag Committee's top Democrat, told our Grace Yarrow that the legislation contains "poison pills" that will make it "very difficult, if not impossible," for her to support.
And Make America Healthy Again advocates are also incensed over a provision that would prevent states from requiring pesticides manufacturers to label their packaging in a way that differs from EPA guidance. They have said they plan to lobby to have it removed from the Senate’s version of the farm bill and to double down on midterms-focused messaging against the measure's supporters.
“We plan to continue campaigning across social media and contacting representatives to either have the section stripped or amended,” Kelly Ryerson, a prominent MAHA influencer and co-executive director of American Regeneration, told MA Sunday. “We will also be contacting [the] Senate to be sure they are aware of our sentiment.”
Alex Clark, a MAHA influencer who runs a wellness podcast associated with Turning Point USA, said the pesticides labeling measure poses a threat to the Republican coalition that elected President Donald Trump.
“What is most disturbing is Chairman G.T. Thompson included the language after thousands of American moms asked him not to,” Clark told MA. “The reason Trump won in 2024? Those moms.”
Craig said she was aware of MAHA’s influence when making the decision to oppose the package.
“I certainly would never dismiss the MAHA movement the way that some of my Republican colleagues have dismissed them,” she told Grace .
Industry reacts: Ag groups were split over the farm bill’s provisions, especially one that would overturn California’s Proposition 12, which requires more housing space for livestock.
National Pork Producers Council President Duane Stateler said in a statement that overturning Proposition 12 would “protect our livelihoods from an unsustainable patchwork of state laws.”
But the pro-Proposition 12 American Meat Producers Association said scrapping the law would “pull the rug out from American family farmers that have already made investments.”
The Farm Credit Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation cheered the proposed expansion of farm credit programs, including loan access for beginning producers.
The International Dairy Foods Association pointed to the expansion of dairy incentives in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as a win.
“This legislation ensures low-income families have greater access to affordable, wholesome dairy foods while giving farmers and processors the certainty they need to continue delivering for America,” IDFA President and CEO Michael Dykes said in a statement.
But Tim Gibbons, executive director of the National Family Farm Coalition, said the legislation doesn’t go far enough to improve credit access for small farms, among other concerns, but “perpetuates the status quo that enriches and empowers corporate agribusiness.