RELEASE: Breakthrough Institute Statement on House Passage of the 2026 Farm Bill

Washington, DC — April 30, 2026 — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. The vote was 224-200, the result of a years-long process since the Farm Bill was due to be reauthorized in 2023. The bill includes new policies to scale and improve research, development, and deployment of agricultural technologies. Among these are commitments to strengthen interagency research coordination, new incentives to encourage the use of precision agriculture technologies, improvements to the regulatory environment for new biotechnology products, and extended loan authorities to bolster resilience in the food supply chain.

“The House Farm Bill makes needed progress in updating existing research programs and authorizing new federal efforts to spur agricultural innovation. However, efforts to maintain a budget-neutral bill came at the expense of necessary research funding,” said Emily Bass, Director of Federal Policy for Food & Agriculture at the Breakthrough Institute. “By omitting funding for the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), the House missed an opportunity to invest in public-private research partnerships. Amidst a flatlining of USDA research budgets in recent years, Congress must make investments in this Farm Bill or risk allowing U.S. agricultural innovation and productivity to fall further behind major trade competitors.”

As attention turns to the Senate to respond with a bill that can pass with bipartisan votes, lawmakers in the upper chamber must ensure that innovation priorities absent from the House Farm Bill are not left behind.

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Media Contact:

Emily Bass

Director of Federal Policy, Food and Agriculture

emily@thebreakthrough.org