House Farm Bill Falls Flat as it Champions Big Tech at the Expense of Farmers and Workers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On February 13, 2026, the House Agriculture Committee, led by Rep. Glen ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), released the long-awaited farm bill, Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. This “skinny” Farm Bill comes after years of delay while farmers and farming communities across the country face economic hardship due to gross mismanagement and political inertia in Congress.
The HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor) Food Alliance is underwhelmed by the misguided and shortsighted proposal introduced last Friday. This new bill falls far short of the farm bill policy recommendations HEAL members laid out to Congress, which provide the groundwork for creating a truly transformative food and farm system that benefits all. Instead, this bill props up Big Tech and Ag by deeply ingraining precision agriculture into farm bill programs, including EQIP and CSP, which, according to HEAL’s 2025 report, is a false climate solution that, in the long term, provides little benefit to farmers.
“This bill, which mirrors the 2024 Farm Bill version introduced by the House Ag Committee, is more of the same – it ignores the safety and rights of the food and farm workers responsible for putting food on our tables; it continues to fail farmers and land stewards with no support for climate resilience initiatives, and it increasingly prioritizes profit margins for corporations by directing federal resources toward false solutions that have not been shown to provide meaningful climate or environmental benefits,” said Nichelle Harriott, HEAL Policy Director.
HEAL is especially concerned about the inclusion of preemption language that puts farmworkers at risk by limiting state and local authorities’ ability to regulate pesticides. Food and farm workers already face hazardous conditions in the workplace, including chemical pesticide exposures, extreme heat, and unsafe line speeds in processing plants.
As expected, the bill maintains status quo disparities in access to USDA programs and does nothing to rein in corporate consolidation in the agricultural sector. There is also no mention of values-aligned food procurement standards that prioritize worker well-being or penalize bad actors.
In two small but bright spots, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, attempts to improve credit access by raising loan limits, easing paperwork requirements, especially for beginning and veteran farmers, and providing more program assistance for the Heirs Property Relending Program to help farmers, especially Black farmers, resolve farm ownership.
HEAL strongly urges Congress to reject the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 and draft a farm bill that utilizes HEAL’s policy recommendations to ensure the safety and resilience of our food supply, protect food and farm workers, and provide opportunities for all farmers, workers, and families to thrive.
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