As Congress returns to Washington on January 5, 2026, after the holiday recess, the long-overdue Farm Bill reauthorization takes center stage once again. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson has said he wants to move a farm bill through his committee in the first months of 2026. He hopes to begin markup of the remaining farm bill in January. Senate Agriculture Committee leaders also express optimism about progress. But with the 2018 Farm Bill now extended multiple times, including most recently to cover the 2026 crop year, farmers are tired of waiting. Congress has kicked the can down the road repeatedly, leaving family farms in limbo amid crushing economic pressures.
Back in 2018, when the last full Farm Bill passed, American agriculture looked far different. Commodity prices were stronger, input costs more manageable, and trade flows predictable. Today, we face a perfect storm: record low margins, skyrocketing debt, full grain bins with nowhere to go, and billions in losses from retaliatory tariffs that devastated export markets. Row-crop farmers lost an estimated $34.6 billion in 2025 alone, and surveys show over half expect no profits in 2026. The $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance payments announced last month offer temporary relief, but many producers call them inadequate bandaids that fall far short of covering the damage.
The broken system trapping family farms today was not built by farmers themselves. It was forced upon us by decades of government-structured subsidies that rewarded consolidation and monoculture production of a handful of commodity crops, distorting markets and squeezing out diverse operations. Then came the tariffs, sparking trade wars that collapsed key overseas demand, especially for soybeans, while foreign competitors filled the void. These policies turned independent producers into reluctant dependents on emergency aid, propping up a flawed framework instead of fixing the root causes.
We cannot wait any longer for the government to clean up its own mess. Family farms are on the brink, with rising bankruptcies and eroding working capital threatening the future of rural America. A real Farm Bill in 2026 must deliver serious change: modernized safety nets that work for all producers, not just the biggest operations, aggressive efforts to restore lost export markets, and reforms to end subsidy distortions that favor corporate mega-farms over independent family ones. Bridge payments and extensions buy time, but they do not solve the crisis.
Farmers have borne the brunt of policy failures long enough. As Congress reconvenes, the message from the heartland is clear; we are sick of delays and half-measures. Deliver a Farm Bill that puts family farms first, or watch more of them disappear. Maybe that’s what they want?