WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed a long-awaited farm bill Thursday, marking the furthest the measure has advanced through Congress since 2018.
In the 224-200 vote, Alabama’s congressional delegation split on party lines. The state’s Republican members supported it while the Democrats were opposed. Fourteen other Democrats joined most Republicans to pass it.
The Farm, Food and National Security Act authorizes several agricultural and food programs for five years. It builds on farming provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which became law last year. That sweeping legislation included massive cuts to nutrition assistance, which were cemented in the farm bill. Democrats strongly opposed the cuts to the food aid programs.
U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, a member of the Agriculture Committee, told Alabama Daily News, “farmers need” the bill to become law this year.
“I’ve been working on this for five years, so I’m cautiously optimistic,” Moore told ADN before the bill’s vote, which was snarled by Republican infighting earlier in the week over ethanol, pesticides and animal welfare provisions.
Mitt Walker with the Alabama Farmers Federation said the new legislation will help reflect the changing demands on farmers.
“The last farm bill was passed in 2018. It was really just a reboot of the 2014 farm bill,” Walker said. “If you think of everything that has happened since then, it’s past time to get a new farm bill.”
Alabama’s other member on the Agriculture Committee, U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, voted against the measure. Rather, he introduced his own package of bills this week aimed at helping the rural community. The “Rural Futures” package included legislation to restrict the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts, provide support for rural health centers and bolster veterinary education at 1890 land-grant institutions.
“Republicans continue to push policies that do more harm than good for our constituents,” Figures said in a statement. “That is why I am fighting for reforms to help rural America receive the federal investment and attention they deserve.”
The 2026 farm bill authorizes speciality crop production programs, increases resources for young farmers and expands investments in rural communities, according to House Agriculture Republicans.
Alabama agriculture leaders also previously highlighted to ADN that the measure makes the feral swine eradication and control program permanent and provides support and funding for research at land-grant institutions.
“The Farm Bill delivers real wins for America and Alabama’s farmers and rural communities,” U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, posted on social media after the bill’s passage.
In a statement, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, slammed the bill for solidifying the cuts to SNAP, arguing that led her to oppose the bill on Thursday.
“At a time when so many Alabama families are already struggling with rising grocery costs, I cannot support a bill that would continue to take food out of the mouths of hungry children, seniors, and veterans,” Sewell said.
But she highlighted some “wins” for rural Alabama included in the measure, such as a provision to help Alabamians pay for decentralized water systems and one that provides resources for rural forestry processing.
Before the House passed the Farm Bill, lawmakers voted on several amendments. All of Alabama’s delegation supported adding hot rotisserie chicken to the list of food items eligible under SNAP.
The GOP infighting around the legislation also centered on the Make America Healthy Again movement and pesticides. The House ultimately voted to strip provisions out of the farm bill that would have made it harder to sue pesticide makers.
Alabama’s two Democrats and U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, voted in favor of axing the pesticide liability protections from the bill. The state’s four other members voted to keep the language in the measure.
The legislation now moves to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain path. The Senate has yet to release the text of its version of the bill.