The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (FFNSA) was introduced in the House on February 13, 2026 by the House Agriculture Committee and passed in late February. This draft bill is intended as the vehicle to get a new five-year Farm Bill passed in the Fall of 2026. The last Farm Bill, passed in 2018, has been extended three times since it expired in 2023. One-year extensions create uncertainty for farmers, reducing their ability to plan crop rotations, equipment purchases, and make insurance decisions with confidence. Extensions also delay needed updates to conservation programs, crop insurance policies, and other long-term agricultural initiatives that a new five-year Farm Bill would normally address. Below are several items included in the current draft that have the potential to significantly impact Hoosiers.
Conservation
While the 2025 Farm Bill extension secured increased long-term funding for programs such as the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), it notably left out the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The CRP is a voluntary program administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) that pays landowners to convert highly erodible and environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production to vegetative cover, such as native grasses and trees, in order to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and enhance biodiversity and wildlife habitat. The current FFNSA draft reauthorizes the CRP through 2031. Additionally, precision agriculture practices are specifically incorporated in the CSP and EQIP in the draft, meaning that data-driven farming management approaches that utilize tools such as GPS and automation to optimize productivity while reducing environmental impact could see expanded payments if the FFNSA is passed.
Pesticides
Chemical-intensive agricultural operations that prioritize fertilizers and pesticides are known to have adverse impacts on both the environment and human health. Excessive chemicals can run off from agricultural fields and into lakes, streams, and wetlands, where they can harm aquatic ecosystems. Pesticides, in particular, can kill beneficial microorganisms and invertebrates essential for nutrient cycling and soil fertility, and can also increase the likelihood of cancer and other illnesses in humans. The FFNSA preempts state and local authorities from setting stricter pesticide controls or labeling beyond federal EPA standards. This means that state and local governments will no longer have the ability to pass more stringent standards on pesticide use than what is allowed by the federal government. This could negatively impact residents and the environment if federal standards are inadequate in certain areas. The FFNSA further reduces environmental safeguards by exempting EPA-registered pesticides from additional permitting and approval requirements, including those under the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Crop Insurance & Risk Management
Extending previous farm bills or passing new ones is vital for maintaining the farm safety net. Otherwise, the USDA would be forced to revert to a permanent law passed in the 1930s and 1940s that utilizes outdated price formulas to determine commodity support and completely leave out some crops that are a major commodity in Indiana, such as soybeans. The FFSNA ensures the maintenance of existing commodity programs and crop insurance enhancements that help farmers hedge against price swings and yield losses. The draft bill also establishes a standing Specialty Crop Emergency Assistance Framework to aid specialty crop producers after adverse events, however the FFNSA reinforces an industrial agriculture model by directing the majority of crop insurance benefits to large commodity producers, while smaller and diversified farms continue to face barriers accessing programs. Additionally, the FFNSA misses an opportunity to tie risk management to conservation practices allowing significant subsidies to be distributed without advancing sustainability outcomes.
What is next?
The FFNSA passed through the House Agriculture Committee markup in late February and a House floor vote is expected in April. The Senate is expected to draft and consider its own version of the farm bill. If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee will reconcile the differences before a final bill is approved again by both the House and the Senate and sent to the President for signature. Negotiations between the chambers are likely to focus on contentious issues such as SNAP funding levels and related nutrition policy provisions. We encourage you to review the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 and reach out to your two Hoosier representatives currently serving on the House Agriculture Committee, U.S. Representative Jim Baird and U.S. Representative Mark Messmer to demand changes to the FFNSA that won’t lock in harmful environmental policies for years. The deadline for passing a new Farm Bill, or another extension, is September 30, 2026.
Categories: Indiana General Assembly, Sustainable Agriculture