The US House Agriculture Committee has released what may be the most consequential piece of American agricultural legislation in a decade — and its implications extend well beyond American borders.
On February 13, Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson released the full text of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, an 800-page proposal that reauthorises programmes spanning all 12 titles of the farm bill, as The Hill reported. The House Agriculture Committee is scheduled to begin markup on Monday, February 23, with committee leaders targeting House floor action before the Easter recess, according to the National Association of Counties (February 19, 2026).
The bill builds on provisions already enacted through last year’s reconciliation package — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — which addressed most traditional commodity title programmes including crop insurance and safety net funding. What remains in this legislation, as RFD-TV’s analysis (February 16, 2026) noted, covers the other 80 percent of farm bill policy that involves trade, conservation, research, rural development, and several politically contentious provisions.
Several elements carry international significance. The bill transfers the Food for Peace international food aid programme from the US Agency for International Development to the Department of Agriculture, as Farm Policy News (February 16, 2026) reported, and reserves 50 percent of the programme’s resources for the purchase and shipping of US-produced food. This shift could redirect how American food aid reaches countries like Nigeria, potentially favouring in-kind commodity shipments over local procurement — a longstanding debate in development policy.
The trade provisions are designed to strengthen American agricultural export competitiveness. The bill adds the Secretary of Agriculture as a permanent member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and increases reporting requirements for foreign entities purchasing US agricultural land.
Domestically, the bill has triggered sharp partisan opposition. Ranking Member Angie Craig accused Republicans of filling the package with poison pills, as The Hill reported. Democrats submitted 274 provisions to the Republican majority, of which 28 were accepted — a 90 percent rejection rate, according to Dakota News Network (February 16, 2026).
Among the most controversial provisions is language that would override California’s Proposition 12 and other state-level agricultural policies through a version of the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act. The bill also pushes for uniform pesticide labelling that would prohibit states from requiring warning labels more stringent than federal EPA standards.
Farm advocacy groups have reacted with a mix of support and caution. The National Cotton Council and American Soybean Association praised the bill’s provisions for precision agriculture, market diversification, and pesticide labelling uniformity. Farm Action, however, warned that the bill largely preserves a status quo that benefits the largest corporations rather than independent farmers.
The bill faces significant obstacles before becoming law. The Senate Agriculture Committee has not yet introduced its own version, and with slim margins in both chambers, bipartisan support will likely be necessary. The current 2018 Farm Bill, which has been extended multiple times, expires on September 30, 2026.
For food-importing nations and international food aid recipients, this legislation matters because it defines how the world’s largest agricultural economy structures its subsidies, manages its surpluses, and channels its food aid. When American farm policy shifts, global commodity flows, food aid distribution patterns, and competitive dynamics in grain markets shift with it. The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 makes explicit what its title implies: the US now views food policy as national security policy — a framing that is reshaping agricultural governance worldwide.