Modernizing the Farm Bill

Twenty years ago, my wife and I bought a house near Keenesburg, Colorado.  This house was just built, and we were the first ones to ever live in it.  One thing we failed to realize is that it was just the house, yes, it had new carpet, new paint, and was “perfect”.  Over the next few years, we made it ours, starting with blinds and curtains, eventually painting walls to add color and make it more us. We spent a considerable amount of time getting the soil ready and planting grass so the kids had a nice lawn to play on. We even built a small pole shed that we used for the kids’ 4-H animals. Then, as tends to happen, we decided we wanted to sell it and move out farther into the country, and raise pigs. 

So we bought a place near Roggen.  This house was built in the late 70’s by the gentleman who bought the land and farmed and raised pigs after coming home from World War II. This house was built solid, but it was finished and decorated in the 70’s and hadn’t been updated in decades.  It was heated with electric radiant ceilings. It was built in the time that you couldn’t see from one room to another, leading to a dark, closed-in kitchen. The walls in the living room and dining room were wood paneled. Paint and curtains were not going to make that house meet our tastes. We started by pulling out all the cabinets in the kitchen, then the drywall, and then some walls. By the time we were done, the interior was not recognizable. Only one room hadn’t been stripped down to the studs and rebuilt. It went from functional and livable to comfortable and enjoyable. 

As I type this, H.R.7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, commonly called the Farm Bill, is moving to the US Senate after passing the US House of Representatives. We have done a lot of research, looking at what is in the bill and how it might help the current failing farm economy.  I liken this bill to the first house; it is paint and a new green lawn. Although there are some good updates in it, like language to ensure Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) county offices are fully staffed, and updates to public grazing lease processes, we think it falls far short of meeting the needs of the moment.  If you looked at the proposed Farm Bill with no knowledge of the state of the farm economy, you would believe that things are going well for farmers and ranchers and that existing policy is working. 

It isn’t.  The Farm Bill we need is analogous to the second house.  It needs to be stripped down to the studs and modernized.  The foundation is good, the country is filled with family farmers and ranchers ready to support the country by producing the food, fuel, and fiber we need to be a successful country. The USDA and associated agencies are in place to form the shell of what is needed to provide the safety net and support that agriculture needs. But everything about the policy around farms and food is decades old, out of date, and needs torn apart. We need policies that incentivize production aligned with domestic demand as we can no longer rely on export markets to use up our surplus. We need crop programs that encourage diversification and spreading risk across different crops, and the inclusion of livestock on operations. We need programs that encourage conservation and soil health instead of maximum bushels of core commodities. And we need to not only investigate but tear down the consolidation that is choking family agriculture from the input and sales sides. We need policies that build a strong farm economy to weather the normal fluctuations, with a strong safety net for the unpredictable, not yearly ad hoc payments that barely keep family agriculture alive. 

In short, we need a five-year Farm Bill, but we need a new food and farm policy more. Unless there are major changes in the Senate version, RMFU will likely be one of the few farm organizations saying that we need more.  We will not accept kicking the can down the road another five years with the same policies that have failed family agriculture for decades.  We won’t praise the passage of a Farm Bill that has the same policies leading to the loss of 14,000 farms in 2025. We are going to continue to advocate for our members and their communities and do everything in our power to achieve our vision of a society in which family farmers, ranchers, and their communities thrive!