House agriculture leaders advance farm bill draft with new support for vegetable growers

The U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee released the first draft of a new farm bill late last week, according to reporting from the University of Illinois’ Farm Policy News. The next step forward for the proposed bill is a Feb. 23 markup period.

Sources report the proposed legislation would “revamp a key international food aid program and boost risk management options for specialty crop growers.”

House Ag Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson — who is also reportedly working up proposed legislation for the H-2 foreign ag worker programs — released a statement lauding the proposed farm bill as “modern policies for modern challenges.” 

The full text of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 is out. Visit our website to see how this critical legislation affects you and your community. https://t.co/TtXcjTNc4Y pic.twitter.com/wCfoQR478q

— House Committee on Agriculture (@HouseAgGOP) February 13, 2026

“The farm bill affects our entire country, regardless of whether you live on a farm, and I look forward to seeing my colleagues in Congress work together to get this critical legislation across the finish line,” Thompson wrote in the statement. 

Additionally, several ag media sources are reporting that the bill would expand the tree assistance program for fruit tree orchards and would reclassify plant pests under the definition of “natural disaster.” The same sources say the proposed bill also creates a new framework for USDA specialty crop aid that “will be consistent across administrations.” 

Spudman managing editor Melinda Waldrop reports that the draft addresses specialty crops in steps including: 

• Increasing funding for the Market Access Program (MAP), Foreign Market Development Program (FMD), Emerging Markets Program (EMP), Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) and Priority Trade Fund (PTF)
• Requiring a report to Congress detailing the policies or practices of foreign countries that act as barriers to specialty crop exports or those that heighten the competitiveness of imported specialty crops with domestic producers
• Providing $30 million per year from the Specialty Crop Research Initiative to fund a new Specialty Crop Mechanization and Automation Research and Extension Program
• Establishing a stakeholder consultation process in the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program to direct program administrators to consult with producers when setting priorities and reauthorizing the authorization of appropriations for the Specialty Crops Market News Allocation
• Forming a specialty crop advisory committee to ensure the perspectives of the specialty crop industry “have a seat at the table for policy development and expansion”
• Creating a pricing library for specialty crops

Meanwhile, the House Ag Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn), released a statement saying the bill as proposed would be “very difficult, if not impossible” for her to support because it “contains ‘poison pills’ and doesn’t do enough to help struggling farmers.”

While Republicans hold the majority in both chambers of Congress currently, several Democrats would have to break party lines and vote for the bill in order to secure its passage.