As I stood in a five foot deep hole, knowing I still had another two feet of rock, sand, shale, and clay to remove, I thought: What series of events led me here, to willingly torture myself like this?

And then I kept digging.

Hour after hour. Determined. Driven. Compelled by something I couldn’t yet name.

By the end of the day, the hole was finally seven feet deep. I threw the shovel up to level ground, climbed the ladder out of the hole, and looked around. My fence line was sagging—I’d fix that. I had a new field that needed to be plowed—I’d get to it. This root cellar I had been digging would need concrete in the next few days, and I had no idea how that would happen. I was hungry, sore, and exhausted.

And still, I climbed out of the hole knowing I would be back the next day.

On July 14th, 2023, my husband and I walked out onto our land. For years it had been grazing ground for cattle and sheep. Now, it would become a fully functioning organic vegetable farm… if I could build it.

I had a home, an auger, some hand tools, a truck, and an overwhelming mix of fear and excitement. I knew fencing had to come first. I also knew absolutely nothing about fencing.

Failure came fast and often. The clay-heavy soil refused to cooperate. The auger stalled at twelve inches. T-posts wouldn’t sink no matter how hard I tried. Eventually, a nearby farmer stepped in and taught me about post pullers, fencing pliers, and how to properly hang deer netting.

Then came irrigation. I stood in the plumbing aisle staring at a wall of gadgets and fittings for over an hour, trying to decipher a language I didn’t yet speak. I built a rough system and hoped for the best. I had no tractor, only a gifted tiller, and by the time I tried to use it, the clay ground had frozen solid. The soil barely moved.

Every single day started and ended in failure. I cried so often to friends and family that it became a running joke. And yet, every morning I woke up more determined than the last.

Within nine months, I had two fields built and tilled and seeds in the ground.

The mice ate them.

Then a tornado tore through one field, ripping up the fence line and scattering freshly planted seed across the land. I genuinely wondered how I would recover. I leaned heavily on my community, asking questions daily, crying daily, and learning constantly. I replanted.

Crops emerged… then the irrigation failed. Weeds exploded… and my only tiller broke down repeatedly. Everything seemed to go wrong.

And still, I woke up every day and kept going.

By the fall of 2024, I was exhausted. I didn’t know how I was going to do this, but I knew I could figure it out.

I called in help to till the soil properly and finally worked vital nutrients into the ground. The clay broke apart and revealed rich soil beneath it, waiting patiently to grow something good. I tore out old fencing and rebuilt it stronger, using what I had learned the hard way. I completely overhauled the irrigation system. I applied for grants to afford what I couldn’t. I took an accounting class. I listened to organic farmers in my area and paid attention to what actually worked.

Most importantly, I stopped calling myself a failure.

Because I wasn’t failing. I was learning, just like every farmer before me. I learned that sometimes the hard way is the only way, and that doesn’t make it wrong.

2025 began with momentum. Hundreds of starts under grow lights, seeds in the ground early, irrigation running smoothly. I knew every day would be hard, and I also knew that hard was okay. I trusted myself to solve problems as they came.

Two days before my first market, hail hit. I pivoted. With only one crop, grown at a neighboring farm, I showed up to my first market anyway. Years of being a farmhand. Years of education. Years of dreaming about land. Years of building soil from nothing.

I went to market with my head held high, selling only garlic scapes and giving away smiles for free.

The summer was full of highs and lows. I succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. I failed consistently. I was exhausted, weathered, hungry, and more content than I had ever been in my life.

Nothing is easy. Everything is hard. And once I accepted that, everything changed.

These days, I’m building an agricultural building using grants, donated materials, and volunteers giving their time and equipment. Some days I still cry, unsure how I’ll overcome the next hard thing. But most days, I laugh at the problems that once brought me to my knees, because I can handle them easily now.

If there is anything I’ve learned, it’s this: progress doesn’t come from avoiding hardship. It comes from waking up and continuing through it. From digging the hole even when you don’t know how deep it needs to be. From trusting that each hard-earned lesson becomes a tool you’ll use later.

You don’t have to know how it all works when you begin.

You just have to keep digging.

That is why we are hosting Funding the Farm: Your FSA Starting Point on May 22 at 1pm ET. We will help answer those questions and give farmers a stronger starting point.

This webinar is designed to give a clear, practical introduction to Farm Service Agency loan options, with a focus on Direct Operating Loans, Farm Ownership Loans, and Microloans. Whether you are just starting your farm journey, growing an existing operation, or thinking about purchasing land, this session will help break down the basics in a way that is easy to understand and useful for real farm planning.

During the session, we will cover an overview of:

• Direct Operating Loans: These loans can help farmers cover the day-to-day costs of running a farm, including supplies, equipment, livestock, seed, repairs, labor, and other farm operating needs.
• Farm Ownership Loans: These loans are focused on long-term investment in the farm. They may support purchasing farmland, improving land or buildings, making repairs, or helping a farm build a stronger foundation for the future.
• Microloans: These are a smaller and more simplified loan option that may be helpful for beginning farmers, urban growers, specialty crop producers, and farmers who are building their operation step by step.

The goal of this webinar is to make the information clear, useful, and farmer-centered. You do not have to have everything figured out before you attend. This session is meant to meet farmers where they are and help them better understand what options may be available.

If you are thinking about applying for an FSA loan, trying to get your documents together, or simply want to learn more about USDA funding options, this webinar is a great place to start.

Join us for Funding the Farm: Your FSA Starting Point on May 22 at 1pm ET and take the next step toward understanding how FSA loans can support your farm goals.

Contact: Jessica Manly
Communications and Digital Advocacy Director
National Young Farmers Coalition
press@youngfarmers.org, 518-643-3564 x 722

Washington, D.C. (April 30, 2026) This morning, the House voted on their draft of the Farm Bill, The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567), in the first floor vote on the Farm Bill in eight years. The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) expresses deep disappointment with the House bill, which passed 224 to 200. The House Farm Bill fails to deliver the meaningful investments and programmatic changes needed to support the new generation of farmers and ranchers.

While the legislation includes several provisions that reflect years of advocacy from young farmers, the overall package falls short of what is required to address the urgent challenges facing agriculture today. At a time of rising farm bankruptcies, increasing barriers to land and capital, soaring fuel and input prices, and intensifying climate pressures, this bill offers only incremental steps instead of the bold action needed to keep farmers on the land.

“The House proposal is ultimately shortsighted, offering young and beginning farmers breadcrumbs when what is needed is a comprehensive commitment to their success in agriculture,” said Vanessa Garcia Polanco, Government Relations Director with Young Farmers. “Young farmers are asking for a Farm Bill that actually improves conditions on the ground—one that expands access to land, strengthens pathways to credit, and invests in resilient local food systems. This bill does not meet that moment.”

The Coalition emphasizes that a strong Farm Bill must be rooted in a true bipartisan farm and nutrition coalition, one that recognizes the interconnectedness of agricultural viability and food access. By failing to fully invest in both farmers and nutrition programs, the House bill risks deepening inequities and undermining long-term food system resilience.

“This bill lacks foresight into what is truly needed to build a sustainable future for food and agriculture. Young farmers are tired of having their needs ignored—we deserve a Farm Bill that recognizes our continued contributions to a system that consistently attempts to leave us behind,” said Michelle A.T. Hughes, Executive Director of Young Farmers. “We urge the Senate to take a different approach: lawmakers must come together across party lines and make meaningful investments in the new generation of farmers so that they can continue feeding our country.”

As the Farm Bill process moves forward, the National Young Farmers Coalition calls on the Senate to center bipartisanship and prioritize policies that deliver real, lasting impact for young farmers and ranchers across the country.

***

The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at youngfarmers.org.

Contact: Jessica Manly
Communications and Digital Advocacy Director
National Young Farmers Coalition
press@youngfarmers.org, 518-643-3564 x 722

Washington, D.C. (March 25, 2026) On March 23, the USDA issued termination notices for 49 of 50 Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (ILCMA) projects – innovative, community-based, and locally-led projects designed to tackle the greatest barriers that young, beginning, and underserved producers face in the U.S. Terminations, effective on March 26, totaling nearly $300 million across 40 U.S. states and territories. 

Termination letters claim that “most of the awards did little to improve land access” and that there was “excessive spending on outreach and technical assistance.” What the letters omit is that current USDA leadership spent over a year systematically undermining the program – freezing funding, cutting off communication with awardees, and withholding the approvals grantees needed to move forward with land acquisitions, farmland down payment assistance, low-interest loans, and other core project activities. 

The terminations also abandon years of public investment. The LCM program took significant time and taxpayer dollars to design, fund, and launch. Awardees spent that time building partnerships, hiring staff, and laying the groundwork these projects required – work that will now go unrealized, just before many grantees expected final clearance to begin their core activities.

“The Trump administration actively blocked awardees from delivering critical resources to the next generation of U.S. farmers and ranchers — then cited the absence of progress as grounds for termination,” said Amanda Koehler, Manager of the Land, Capital, and Market Access Network. “After years of public investment in this program, the administration is cancelling contracts as it’s finally ready to meet its potential and calling it fiscal responsibility. The waste here is theirs.”

“We have six farmers who were waiting for down payment assistance to purchase small farms, and now that opportunity may never come to fruition. I know it will impact our communities in ways that are deeply felt and not always fully understood,” stated Dr. JohnElla Holmes, CEO and President of the Kansas Black Farmers Association. “We come from a legacy of resilience forged through hardship – generations who endured injustice and yet still built, cultivated, and contributed so much to this country. Still, we find ourselves fighting for access to the very opportunities that others are encouraged to pursue freely.”

“Over our 35 years of supporting farmers in the southeast, we have seen time and again that land access is one of the most long-standing and daunting barriers to success in agriculture,” said Kavita Koppa, Executive Director of RAFI, an awardee of a now-terminated ILCMA grant. “Farmers – and therefore our food system – exist on the knife’s edge of crisis due to natural disasters, inadequate access to fair credit, and volatile markets. ILCMA was a promise to use taxpayer dollars to support the farmers that support all of us by addressing their most fundamental needs. Its termination not only impacts farmers of today but hampers our ability to grow farmers into the future.”

“In Iowa, we’ve seen firsthand how the ILCMA program helps bridge the gap for beginning farmers who are ready to step into land ownership but face steep financial barriers,” said Breanna Horsey, Executive Director of Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, an awardee of a now-terminated ILCMA grant. “Terminating these projects undermines the progress communities have made to keep farmland in production and in the hands of the next generation. At a time when land costs are at record highs, pulling support from locally‑led solutions is not just harmful to farmers, it’s harmful to the resilience of our rural communities.”

“The ILCMA Program is the result of more than a decade of farmer advocacy for land access for the next generation of working farmers,” said Michelle Hughes, Co-Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition. “Regardless of geography or whether they grew up on a farm, secure access to farmland is the single greatest barrier facing new farmers and ranchers—and the number one reason producers leave agriculture. ILCMA is USDA’s only program designed to address the land access crisis, providing a much-needed investment in young and beginning farmers and ranchers. Terminating these contracts is irresponsible and short-sighted, and doing so at a time of record land costs, limited markets, and rising operating expenses will cause irreparable harm to the security and resilience of our nation’s farm and food systems.”

***

The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at youngfarmers.org.

The Land, Capital, and Market Access Network, incubated by the Red Clover Collaborative, is a network of several dozen awardees and subawardees of the USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access (ILCMA) Program. The LCM Network’s goal is to tangibly improve access to land, capital, and market access for young, beginning, and underserved farmers and ranchers across the U.S. by resourcing innovative, community-based, locally-led projects. 

During the markup process, Young Farmers mobilized more than 100 farmers alongside community partners and policy organizations to advocate for improvements to the bill and to urge Members of Congress to vote no unless meaningful changes were made.

The National Young Farmers Coalition appreciates that the House Agriculture Committee continued the Farm Bill process and that members engaged in substantive debate and amendment discussion. The draft includes some provisions that reflect years of advocacy from young farmers and our partners. However, at a moment when land consolidation, the climate crisis, and food insecurity are accelerating, this bill ultimately fails to provide the level of investment and policy change needed for the next generation of farmers to succeed.

For the remainder of this blog post, we share our analysis of the bill as it was advanced out of the House Agriculture Committee.

Land Access, Credit, and Farmland Markets

Land is foundational. Young farmers have been clear for years: land access is the number one barrier our members face. The next Farm Bill must deliver a historic investment in equitable land access and land retention, especially as millions of acres are poised to change hands in the coming years.

While the House bill includes some improvements to USDA credit programs, credit reforms alone will not solve the land access crisis. Without structural investment in land access and protections against speculation and consolidation, young and beginning farmers will continue to be locked out of farmland ownership.

Red Flags

• No investment in community-led land access and retention. The bill fails to include funding for community-led land access initiatives, a top priority identified by young farmers across the country. These projects help farmers secure land, maintain tenure, and ensure farmland stays in agricultural use.
• Missed opportunity to authorize the Land Access, Market, and Capital Program. The bill does not authorize the Land Access, Market, and Capital (LCM) Program, inspired by the New Producer Economic Opportunity Act. This program would have created coordinated, wraparound support for land access, business development, and market entry for beginning farmers.
• Backslides on farmland protection tools. The removal of buy-protect-sell authority from ACEP weakens one of the clearest pathways to ensure protected farmland stays in the hands of working farmers. (SEC. 2601)
  • During the markup hearing, Representative Chellie Pingree (ME-01) highlighted this change as a major failure, noting that the bill is “eliminating farmland conservation transactions that give beginning farmers and underserved farmers access to affordable land.” We thank Rep. Pingree for raising this concern and advocating to maintain tools that help the next generation of farmers access farmland.
• Failure to address speculative farmland ownership. The bill does not meaningfully address the mounting pressure of speculative farmland ownership and consolidation. Instead, it focuses narrowly on foreign ownership while ignoring the larger trend of domestic corporate and investment-driven land consolidation.

Green Flags

• Improvements to FSA credit access.The bill establishes a pre-approval pilot for direct farm ownership loans, improves flexibility in certain loan requirements, and increases loan limits indexed to land values. These are long-standing priorities of young farmers navigating a competitive farmland market. (SEC. 5111, 5102, 5105, 5106)
  
• Continued support for heirs’ property solutions. The bill continues to support heirs’ property initiatives that help farmers maintain land ownership and resolve complex title issues rooted in generations of discrimination and dispossession. (SEC. 5109)
  
• Reauthorization and funding increase for the USDA Certified Mediation Program (CMP). This program allows states to operate mediation services that help farmers resolve disputes with USDA agencies and other agricultural stakeholders without immediately going into litigation. (SEC. 5507)
  

Yellow Flags

• Commission on Farm Transitions reauthorized without clear funding. Without dedicated resources or implementation requirements, the Commission on Farm Transitions risks becoming symbolic rather than transformative. (SEC. 12401)
  
• Incremental data improvements without structural change.  Updating land data reporting, TOTAL Survey, signals acknowledgment of the issue, even if it does not go far enough. Better reporting is important, but it will not, on its own, put land within reach for the next generation. (SEC. 12404)
• Missed opportunity to improve reporting on land access programs. While the bill includes some updates to farmland ownership reporting through the TOTAL Survey, it does not require robust reporting on programs that facilitate access to land, capital, and markets—often referred to as Land Access, Capital, and Market (LCM)-like activities.

TITLE II: Conservation

Young farmers are on the frontlines of climate change. Many are already implementing soil health practices, water conservation strategies, and diversified production systems. Conservation programs must prioritize farmer-led, proven practices that are accessible to small and mid-scale farms—not only high-cost technologies.

The House bill includes some improvements, but it falls short of delivering conservation policy that meets the urgency of this moment.

Red Flags

• Cuts to EQIP funding. Reducing overall conservation funding undermines farmers’ ability to implement practices that build long-term resilience. (SEC. 2501)
  
• Missing key farmer-led conservation reforms. The bill does not include critical improvements we have championed to make conservation programs easier to access and better tailored to young and underserved farmers, for example, provisions from the Small Farm Conservation Act and the Farmer-to-Farmer Education Act
  
• Expanded support for high-cost precision agriculture. Allowing very high cost-share levels for precision agriculture risks directing limited conservation dollars toward expensive technologies with unclear environmental benefits, rather than toward widely accessible and proven practices. (SEC. 2202)
  

Green Flags

• Increases the minimum Conservation Stewardship Program payment. Raising the CSP minimum payment to $4,000 helps ensure farmers are fairly compensated for conservation work. (SEC. 2301) 
• Strengthens incentives for climate-beneficial practices. The bill identifies practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon sequestration as high-priority conservation practices. (SEC. 2202) 
• Improves equity within ACEP. While the standard Federal cost-share for an ACEP agricultural land easement is capped at 65 percent, this new provision authorizes the Secretary to provide up to 90 percent of the fair market value for eligible land in which a socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher holds at least a 50 percent ownership interest. Higher cost-share rates and tools to improve participation by socially disadvantaged farmers are meaningful improvements. (SEC. 2602) 

Yellow Flags

• Creation of a State and Tribal soil health program using existing CSP funds. While supporting soil health leadership is promising, funding the program from existing CSP resources could limit participation in an already oversubscribed program. (SEC. 2302)
  

TITLE IV: Nutrition

Farmers and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients are interconnected.  Farmers depend on programs like SNAP to keep local markets strong and ensure that the food they grow reaches the people who need it most. A strong Farm Bill must invest in both production and food access.

However, this bill fails to restore the historic SNAP cuts enacted last year through One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which reduced funding by $187 billion and shifted unprecedented costs to states while tightening eligibility requirements for millions of households. These cuts weaken a program that supports more than 42 million Americans and reduces purchasing power in the very communities many young farmers rely on to sell their products.

The House bill includes tools that could support local procurement and healthy food access. However, the absence of mandatory funding signals a lack of real commitment to these programs. Authorizing programs without investing in them leaves farmers and communities with empty promises and fails to meet the urgency of rising food insecurity and shrinking market opportunities for local producers.

Red Flags

• Local procurement authorization without mandatory funding. Without guaranteed funding, the Local Farmers Feeding Our Communities-style program risks becoming an unfunded authorization. (SEC. 4306)
  
• Insufficient reinforcement of nutrition programs. In a time of elevated food prices and food insecurity, the Farm Bill should strengthen nutrition supports that sustain both families and farm markets. (SEC. 4106)
• Rollback of Tribal Authority. Various members noted that the draft strips authority from Tribes to manage their own food distribution programs and eliminates their access to certain agricultural mediation programs
• Discretionary Funding for Local Procurement: While the Local Farmers Feeding Our Communities program is authorized, its $200 million in funding is discretionary (authorized to be appropriated) . During the markup, an amendment 112 to make this funding mandatory was rejected due to “budgetary constraints”. (SEC. 4306)
  

Green Flags

• Authorizes a local procurement program prioritizing small, mid-size, beginning, and veteran farmers.  Establishes a new program that mandates at least 25 percent of the annual value of local food purchases must come from small-size, mid-size, beginning, or veteran farmers. This recognizes the role farmers play in feeding their communities and building resilient local supply chains. (SEC. 4306) 
• Strengthens GusNIP. The bill increases the Federal share for Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) projects to 90 percent in persistent poverty counties. It also expands eligible produce to include “all forms of fruits, vegetables, and legumes” (frozen, canned, and dried), which increases year-round availability for families and consistent markets for farmers (SEC. 4303) 
• Prohibition on EBT Fees: The bill reauthorizes the prohibition on electronic benefit transfer (EBT) processing fees through 2031. This ensures that neither SNAP participants nor retailers are subjected to “costly EBT processing fees,” a move praised as a bipartisan win for “main street” businesses (SEC. 4102)
• Permanent SNAP Online Purchasing: The legislation officially transitions the SNAP online purchasing initiative from a pilot program to a permanent nationwide operation (SEC. 4111)
  

TITLE VI: Rural Development 

Green Flags

• Strengthens Rural Cooperative Development Grants. The bill updates the Rural Cooperative Development Grants program by establishing a clear definition of cooperative development—including education, training, and technical assistance to support the start-up and growth of cooperatives—and allows qualified nonprofit cooperative development centers to receive grant renewals, providing more stable long-term support for local economies. The program also prioritizes funding for socially vulnerable, underserved, and distressed communities. (SEC. 6411)
  
• Sustains Rural Economic Development investments. The bill extends the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program through 2031 and provides greater flexibility for zero-interest loan repayment terms. These adjustments aim to encourage broader participation in rural economic development projects that support local businesses, infrastructure, and community growth. (SEC. 6502)
  
• Establishes a Rural Development Innovation Center. The bill creates a Rural Development Innovation Center within USDA to promote innovation, identify inefficiencies in rural programs, and evaluate collaborative models that strengthen community development initiatives. The center is intended to improve how federal rural development programs serve local economies and respond to emerging challenges in rural communities. (SEC. 6307)
  
• Workforce and loan repayment improvements. Expanding support for agricultural workforce development and student debt tools supports the next generation of agricultural professionals.
  

TITLE VII: Research

Green Flags

• Expansion and reauthorization of FRSAN. The bill reauthorizes the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network through 2031. It expands the program by including crisis hotlines and authorizing grant recipients to provide referrals to health care providers, including rural health clinics, federally qualified health centers, and critical access hospitals (SEC. 7402)
• Support for 1890 Institutions: The bill increases the mandatory funding percentages for Extension and Research at 1890 Land-Grant Colleges to 40 percent. It also reauthorizes student scholarships and facility upgrade grants through 2031 (SEC. 7110)
• Agricultural Workforce Development. The bill prioritizes grants for community colleges that coordinate with local industry to provide work-based learning and apprenticeships in farm business management, accounting, and finance. (SEC. 7123)
• Codifying “Ag Vets”, Formally authorizes competitive grants to provide veterans with training, classroom education, and field experiences to transition into farming and ranching. (SEC. 7306)
• New Centers of Excellence, Mandates the creation of specialized centers focused on beginning farmers and ranchers, biosecurity, water quality, and forestry. (SEC. 7208)

TITLE X: Horticulture and Organic

Green Flags

• Local Agriculture Market Program Simplified Applications. Directs the Secretary to establish a simplified application form for Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP) grants under $100,000 to reduce barriers for direct-to-consumer projects (SEC. 10102)

Red Flags

• Pesticide Labeling National Uniformity: Requires national uniformity for pesticide labels and prohibits any state or court from imposing requirements “in addition to or different from” those approved by the EPA.This could potentially provide a liability shield for chemical corporations (SEC. 10205)

TITLE XI – Crop Insurance

Green Flags

• Expanded Support for Beginning and Veteran Farmers: The bill doubles the definition of “beginning farmer or rancher” from 5 years to 10 years, allowing producers to access higher assistance levels for longer. It also officially includes veteran farmers in these enhanced support categories (SEC. 11007)
• Permanent Specialty Crop Representation: The bill establishes a Specialty Crop Advisory Committee to assist the FCIC in creating and improving policies for these high-value crops. It also mandates that the Chairperson of this committee receive a permanent seat on the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Board (SEC. 11001)

Red Flags 

• Safety Net Gaps for Small and Diversified Farms. Despite the R&D provisions, several committee members argued during the markup that the safety net remains broken for small producers. Representative Jahana Hayes and Representative Andrea Salinas noted the bill lacks meaningful enhancements to the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection program and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), leaving small, diversified, and organic farms at a disadvantage compared to large-scale commodity operations.

TITLE XII: Miscellaneous

Green Flags

• Commission on Farm Transitions: Reauthorizes the commission through 2031 and adds critical new study areas: heirs’ property, leasing and ownership trends, and barriers faced by historically underserved and women farmers (SEC. 12401)
• Office of the Ombudsman: Establishes an independent office within the USDA to handle issues regarding equitable access to programs and provide a venue for producers to raise concerns (SEC. 12206)

Red Flags

• Ending State Production Standards: Prohibits states from enacting production standards on livestock physically raised outside their borders. This is intended to preempt laws like California’s Prop 12, which opponents argue undermines animal welfare and specialized local markets (SEC. 12006)

The Path Forward

We thank Members of the House Agriculture Committee who engaged thoughtfully during markup and those who introduced or supported amendments to strengthen land access, conservation equity, nutrition, and local food systems. 

The bill now moves forward in the legislative process. We urge Members of Congress, partners, funders, and our farmers not to support this bill when it comes to the House floor. A bill that does not contain the financial investments and commitments that will secure the journey in agriculture and the viability of young farmers nationwide does not merit passage. 

Young farmers and the farmers nearing retirement who will soon transition their land cannot afford another Farm Bill that falls short on equitable land access. Farmers committed to feeding their communities cannot afford a bill that treats nutrition and local food as secondary. And producers on the frontlines of climate change cannot afford conservation policy that prioritizes high-cost technologies over accessible, farmer-led practices.

Young Farmers will continue working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to push for a Farm Bill that centers equitable land access, robust nutrition programs, local and regional market opportunities, and farmer-led climate solutions.

This proposal contains pieces we can build on. But as advanced out of committee, it does not yet meet the needs of the next generation of farmers—or the communities they feed.

Contact: Jessica Manly
Communications and Digital Advocacy Director
National Young Farmers Coalition
press@youngfarmers.org, 518-643-3564 x 722

Washington, D.C. (February 18, 2026) — On Friday, February 13, 2026, the House Agriculture Committee released their draft of the next Farm Bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. While the draft includes important provisions reflecting years of advocacy from the Coalition and its farmer leaders, it ultimately fails to address the scale of the land access, climate, and market challenges facing the next generation.

“We appreciate Chairman Thompson and the House Agriculture Committee for continuing the work of advancing the next Farm Bill,” said Michelle A.T. Hughes, Executive Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition. “There are meaningful provisions in this draft, but at a moment when land consolidation, the climate crisis, and food insecurity are accelerating, this Bill does not provide young farmers the support necessary to protect the future of our food and farm systems.”

Credit and Land: Partial Progress

The House draft establishes a pilot program allowing the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to pre-approve direct farm ownership loans, increases loan limits indexed to land values, and continues heirs’ property support. These changes reflect long-standing priorities of young farmers to update FSA credit programs to reflect the current market and prices for agricultural land.

The draft does not authorize the Increasing Land Access, Market, and Capital Program or fund community-led land access and retention initiatives. It makes it harder for producers to purchase ag land by removing the buy-protect-sell authority from the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP). The Bill  fails to meaningfully address speculative land ownership pressures that are driving farmland out of reach for working farmers.

“Credit improvements are important, but this alone does not solve the land access crisis,” said Erin Foster West, Executive Programs Director with the National Young Farmers Coalition. “Without structural investment in equitable land access, we risk locking out the next generation.”

Local Food and Nutrition: Important Tools, Missing Commitment

The proposal authorizes a Local Farmers Feeding Our Communities program requiring at least 25% of purchases from small, mid-size, beginning, or veteran farmers, and reauthorizes the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP), programs like these increase market access for young farmers that want to feed their communities and expand into wholesale and consumer markets.

These local food provisions recognize the role farmers play in feeding their communities. Young farmers rely on programs like SNAP, local food purchasing programs, and GusNIP to reach their communities, keep food dollars local, and expand market access. However, the Local Farmers Feeding Our Communities program lacks mandatory funding, and this bill does not restore or strengthen broader nutrition investments that support farmer’s markets and families food security alike.

At a time of rising food insecurity and food prices, farmers and SNAP recipients are interconnected. 42 million Americans rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and this helps strengthen farm economies nationwide. A Farm Bill that does not reinforce that foundation is a missed opportunity.

Climate and Conservation: Mixed Results

This proposal raises the minimum payment for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to $4,000, which would provide farmers with more money to implement conservation practices on their land. It makes practices that increase carbon sequestration or reduce greenhouse gas emissions eligible to receive increased payments as high-priority practices under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

However, the bill does not include provisions from our climate marker bills, the Small Farm Conservation Act and the Farmer-to-Farmer Education Act, which would make implementing on-farm conservation practices easier and more accessible to young farmers across the country. This proposal cuts overall EQIP funding and makes precision agriculture eligible for increased cost-share payments of up to 90%. Precision agriculture requires high startup costs, thus making it largely inaccessible to young farmers. This increased cost-share means that already limited conservation dollars will be stretched thin, instead of focusing on tried-and-true conservation practices. 

“Conservation funding should prioritize farmer-led, proven practices that build soil health and climate resilience,” said Lotanna Obodozie, Climate Policy Director with Young Farmers. “We are concerned that limited dollars will be stretched toward high-cost technologies rather than accessible and proven conservation practices.”

The Path Forward

Young Farmers remains committed to working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to strengthen the bill during the House markup process.

“We are grateful that the Committee is continuing the Farm Bill process,” said Vanessa Garcia Polanco, Government Relations Director at Young Farmers. “But gratitude does not replace the need for courage and critical investments in the future of agriculture. The current bill does not meet the needs of young farmers.”

Young Farmers urges members of the House Agriculture Committee to strengthen the bill during markup to center equitable land access, robust nutrition programs, access to local and regional markets, and farmer-led climate solutions. Young farmers need a Farm Bill that allows them not just to survive, but to thrive. This proposal takes steps forward, but it does not meet the needs of this critical moment.

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The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at youngfarmers.org.

Widespread pesticide usage, particularly the use of neonics, results in toxins in the soil and watershed that pose a major threat to pollinators and therefore the sustainability of our food supply and ecosystems. According to the NRDC:

“Neonics are a class of synthetic, neurotoxic insecticides that are used on agricultural crops, lawns, gardens, golf courses, and in flea and tick pet treatments. Developed in the mid-1990s, neonics are now the single-most popular insecticide class in the United States… The problem is that they kill indiscriminately, exterminating not only “pest” insects but also countless butterflies, bees, and other wildlife… Once in the soil, neonics remain there for years, and rain or irrigation water can easily carry them long distances to contaminate new soil, plant life, and water supplies.”

To uplift the importance of pollinator advocacy, Young Farmers is collaborating with mural artist Yucca and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Land Grants Program to paint a mural in support of the Pollinator Protection Plan in New Mexico, which calls for controls on pesticide usage, better support for the beekeeper industry and a robust native pollinator population, and continued compliance with pesticide label requirements and New Mexico rules to protect pollinators. 

The artistic design is inspired by equitable land access for young and beginning farmers and highlights the importance of pollinator protection. Once completed, the mural will be placed in IAIA gardens and serve as a multipurpose structure by providing a windbreak and a microclimate for biodiverse species.

To join us in calling for greater pollinator advocacy, check out our op-ed template for sharing your farm story and reach out to adolfo@youngfarmers.org to learn how to submit it to your local legislators. Your voice matters and can make an impact!

Contact: Laura Zaks
Associate Director of Communications and Development
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
press@sustainableagriculture.net, 347-563-6408

Contact: Jessica Manly
Communications and Digital Advocacy Director
National Young Farmers Coalition
press@youngfarmers.org, 518-643-3564 x 722

Washington, D.C. (December 9, 2025) — Yesterday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced limited details of the Farmer Bridge Assistance (FBA) Program, which will make $12 billion available in one-time payments predominantly for row crop farmers. The announcement comes at the conclusion of a tumultuous 2025, during which rising production costs, low crop prices, diminished market access, and unprecedented instability in federal partnership converged to push many farmers to the brink. 

“By nearly any measure, 2025 has presented American farmers with a set of unprecedented challenges. The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program provides some initial relief, but is insufficient on its own. It effectively excludes most specialty crop growers and does little to prevent the loss of farms or farmland due to acute financial hardship. Congress must act quickly to keep farmers on the land—offering loan support and cash-flow assistance, increasing market access, and investing in input-reducing conservation practices—coupled with a commitment to overhauling the safety net and building out financial resilience,” said Mike Lavender, NSAC Policy Director.

The Farmer Bridge Assistance Program will direct over 92% of payments to a handful of commodities, including corn, cotton, peanuts, rice, wheat, and soybeans. Roughly $1 billion will be reserved for other crops, including specialty crops, though a timeline for those payments is not yet available. USDA reportedly confirmed that FBA eligibility will be limited to those individuals or legal entities with an adjusted gross income below $900,000, and payments will be capped at $155,000 per recipient.

“Young farmers know how to roll with the punches and navigate the unexpected, from weather impacts to pest and disease pressures and shifts in market access, whether local or international. At the same time, farmers expect a certain level of confidence in how our public agriculture systems are governed and maintained. The layered and persistent uncertainty of 2025 is pushing many farmers to the limits of what their operations can withstand. The collective government response to these conditions needs to be robust, multi-faceted, and appropriately targeted. This means that the payments announced this week must be followed by additional and expedient efforts to keep farmers on the land and to improve the farm safety net, leaving annual bailouts as cautionary historical context rather than ongoing policy,” said David Howard, Young Farmers Policy Development Director. 

Producers will not be required to enroll in crop insurance to be eligible for FBA payments. While income limits and payment caps have been clarified in press reports, it is unclear whether ‘actively engaged farming’ requirements will be applied to eligible recipients. USDA will use a national loss average to calculate payments, which is unlikely to adequately account for geographic differences in the market conditions that producers face. 

The program will be rolled out on an incredibly tight timeframe – USDA has set a deadline of December 19 for farmers to ensure their 2025 acreage reporting numbers are accurate. Commodity specific payment calculations are to be completed and announced by the end of December, with checks flowing to producers by February 28, 2026. This short timeline is warranted, but may prove difficult amidst USDA staff shortages – the Farm Service Agency has lost 1,200 staff since January 2025. Under these circumstances, it is critical for USDA to ensure accurate and equitable program delivery – and to avoid the “significant improper payments” that have plagued previous assistance programs.

Looking beyond this current effort, the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Young Farmers Coalition strongly urge USDA and Congress to come together and work on additional solutions to repair and expand the farm safety net to all farmers. As Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins stated in yesterday’s announcement, “It is imperative we do what it takes to help our farmers, because if we cannot feed ourselves, we will no longer have a country.” We must ensure that across the country, people producing the food we eat have adequate certainty to plan the future of their agricultural operations and provide a reasonable quality of life for their families.

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The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more at sustainableagriculture.net.

The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at youngfarmers.org.

My name is Mari Hunt Wassink, and I am a beginning farmer and small business owner in Eastern Iowa. I own and operate a small-scale vegetable farm that specializes in producing foods that are culturally relevant to Black communities while improving food security in Eastern Iowa.

I became a farmer because I want to feed my neighbors and make sure everyone in my community has access to healthy, delicious food. The Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program and the Local Food for Schools Program helped me to fulfill that goal while getting a fair price for my produce.

My farm has sold produce to churches, schools, and food banks through the LFPA/LFS programs since 2023. My farm’s revenue increased by 20-25% per year because of the LFPA/LFS programs. I bought my first tractor by reinvesting income from LFPA/LFS back into my business. That tractor, plus the stability of LFPA/LFS programs as a market channel, allowed me to increase my farm’s production volume, which increased my capacity to feed my community. I have seen firsthand how LFPA/LFS has benefitted my community—it has reduced our reliance on food imports while strengthening our local and rural economies.

As a small business owner of a start-up farm, I know these first few years are critical to establishing the long-term profitability of my business. I created a thorough and financially viable business plan based on existing economic and policy conditions to ensure that my farm would continue to grow and feed the community for the long haul.

LFPA/LFS have been an important bridge to help my farm advance to the next stage—a bridge that I understood was to last at least three more years. Hiring my first employee, breaking into wholesale markets, and buying farmland were all on the horizon for my farm. Now that bridge has collapsed before I could reach the other side.

By the time I learned that LFPA/LFS had been cancelled, I had already made agreements with my food hub about what produce they would purchase from me through LFPA/LFS this summer. I planned to double my bell pepper production to meet the local demand. I had already bought all the seeds and equipment necessary to scale up in this way. As farming goes, I made the financial investment at the beginning of the season, counting on the other party to honor their purchasing commitment. Now my food hub has no money to buy my bell peppers when they’re ready this summer, and I’ve lost that huge investment.

With LFPA/LFS gone, I expect my farm to suffer a 25% decrease in revenue this year. Perhaps larger businesses might be able to absorb a 25% income reduction or pivot to other high-volume markets. But for a start-up farmer like me who is still building capacity, I am seriously considering whether I can continue farming after this year.

I am in my last year of a three-year farm business incubator program, designed to equip the next generation of farmers. By the time I graduate this fall, I need to have secured land and basic infrastructure and equipment to continue farming. Facing a 25% loss of income this year weakens my farm’s profitability right as I am trying to make a case to loan officers at the FSA and at banks to help me finance the next phase of my business. LFPA/LFS were an important part of my financial projections to demonstrate my farm’s ability to pay back these necessary loans.

Let me be clear: if I am unable to make a strong case for profitability to lenders, I will have to stop farming and shutter my small business. The cancellation of LFPA/LFS has thrown into question the future of my career as a farmer and the fate of my small business. I am heartsick at the possibility of having to stop farming. I want to join the new generation of America’s farmers—it is my passion and my calling. The abrupt end of LFPA/LFS and other farmer support programs is a major obstacle to my long-term success as a young farmer.

After the longest government shutdown in U.S. history (43 days), Congress has passed a bipartisan package to reopen the federal government. The package included an extension of the 2018 Farm Bill and funding of USDA farm programs through September 30, 2026. While the deal restores essential USDA operations, it falls far short of what young farmers need to stay on the land, access health care, and feed their communities. 

This analysis breaks down what the reopening package does, what it fails to do, and what it means for the next generation of farmers who weathered weeks of uncertainty. 

What’s Actually in the Government Reopening Deal? 

The agreement includes two agriculture components: 

1. A one year extension of the 2018 Farm Bill (through September 30, 2026)

This keeps most USDA programs operating and prevents disruptions to commodity supports, conservation programs, and rural development initiatives. This extension does not:

• Modernize the Farm Bill
• Address land access, climate resilience, or beginning farmer needs
• Fix conservation payment loopholes
• Invest in beginning farmer training or technical assistance programs

It is a stopgap (an essential one), but it is not the comprehensive Farm Bill reform young farmers urgently need.

2. FY2026 Agriculture Appropriations + a short-term Continuing Resolution 

The deal provides full-year funding for the USDA and FDA and extends FY2025 funding for the rest of the government through January 30, 2026. 

This allows USDA staff to return to work and helps restart:

• NRCS technical assistance, EQIP, CSP, and other conservation programs 
• Farm loans and loan servicing 
• Local food grants and cooperative agreements
• Disaster assistance

The package fails to extend Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium tax credits, putting farmers and rural families at risk of steep increases in health insurance costs, some by more than 80%, during a period of rising input prices and economic instability. 

SNAP protections were not included, leaving families at risk of delays in getting their food benefits and providing no extra support for farmers markets, CSAs, or farms that rely on SNAP sales.

Over 40% of young farmers report health care costs as a major barrier, and SNAP remains a core revenue stream for many farms–yet Congress chose not to protect either program in the reopening deal.

Program Funding, Where the Deal Falls Short for Young Farmers

To help clarify where the reopening deal leaves young farmer priorities, the table below compares the last two years of funding to what was included in the FY2026 USDA funding bill. This side-by-side view makes clear where investments fall short, where cuts occur, and which programs are left stagnant despite growing need.

• Discretionary funding is determined annually through the appropriations process. Programs funded this way can be cut, increased, or eliminated each year—such as CTA, SARE, LAMP, and the Office of Urban Agriculture.
• Mandatory funding is built into permanent law (like the Farm Bill) and continues regardless of annual appropriations decisions. The Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach (FOTO) program, for example, still receives mandatory dollars, even though Congress provided zero discretionary funding again this year.  We care about FOTO because it is one of the only federal programs specifically designed to provide training, technical assistance, and support to beginning farmers.

Conservation

The Farm Bill extension fails to make the necessary changes needed to support the next generation of farmers with their conservation goals. While it extends many Farm Bill programs until September 30, 2026, it does not make conservation programs more accessible to young, small, beginning, and BIPOC farmers. It opens the runway for large farms to benefit most from conservation programs, leaving small farms behind, and it ignores the challenges that these farmers face when trying to steward the land, feed their communities, and bolster rural economies.

The bill: 

• Cuts funding for Conservation Technical Assistance by nearly $100 million, resulting in the lowest funding levels since 2008;
• Rescinds unspent Conservation Operations funding that was intended for conservation, meaning that these funds can no longer be spent.
• Eliminates payment limits for EQIP and CSP (formerly at $450,000 and $200,000, respectively), paving the way for some of the nation’s largest producers to use up valuable conservation dollars disproportionately. 

Land Access: No New Tools, No Action taken

While the Farm Bill extension prevents catastrophic program lapses, it does almost nothing to address the single greatest barrier facing the next generation of farmers: access to affordable, secure land. Land prices have reached historic levels, and young farmers feel this more acutely than anyone. Despite these realities, the Farm Bill extension does not include any new tools to help the next generation secure land. It leaves untouched the systems that favor investors, corporate buyers, and large operations over working farmers.

Specifically, the extension fails to:

• expand or pilot pre-approval for Direct Farm Ownership loans,
• strengthen transition incentives for retiring farmers (CRP-TIP),
• address heirs’ property barriers,
• create pathways for cooperative or community-based land access models,
• invest in USDA’s capacity to support land transition planning, or
• close loopholes that send federal dollars to large outside buyers.

For a generation already squeezed by consolidation, rising interest rates, and competition from non-farm purchasers, congressional inaction on land access is not just disappointing—it’s devastating. Young farmers continue to lose land to outside investors, corporations, and consolidation—yet Congress chose status quo over solutions

We Need Stability—Not Stopgaps

This deal ends a historic shutdown, but it does not end uncertainty many farmers face. A one-year Farm Bill extension and underfunded appropriations package are not enough to secure the future of U.S. agriculture.

Young farmers need—and deserve—stable, predictable federal support that protects their land, their health, and their livelihoods. Congress must deliver a real, long-term Farm Bill and a spending package that invests in the people who feed this country.