What Happened?

American farmers are facing falling calf prices, rising diesel costs, and lost overseas customers, and Congress is debating what tools exist to reverse those trends. [](#ngr-350fbe59-ed82-4ea3-9262-abfb3c0de718)

The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing Sept. 16 titled "Increasing Demand and Opportunities for Homegrown Products Here and Abroad," bringing together specialty-crop growers, cattle producers, timber operators, and bio-based product makers to put the state of U.S. farm demand on the record.

No legislation passed.

Why Does it Matter to Me?

The policies debated here touch your wallet. Federal programs that help American farmers sell products at home and abroad affect what gets grown, how much it costs to produce, and ultimately what lands on store shelves.

Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN), the committee's ranking member, said small producers were selling calves for $300 to $400 less than just months earlier, and that farm diesel had reached $6.31 per gallon. She also said 15,000 farms were lost in the preceding year and Midwest farm bankruptcies climbed 70 percent over the past year.

Both Sides, Now

Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA) focused on expanding markets and highlighted House-passed measures he said would benefit producers, including the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, year-round E-15 legislation, modernized commodity payments, and the BioPreferred Program. He said the House passed a farm bill in April and expected the Senate to act on it.

Craig pointed to administration actions she said had hurt farmers, including the end of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the cancellation of programs that purchased food from local farmers for schools and communities overseas. USAID had previously purchased approximately $2 billion worth of U.S.-grown agricultural products annually, Craig said. She also said the administration prioritized 300,000 metric tons of Argentine and Brazilian beef while U.S. ranchers were rebuilding the domestic herd.

Agricultural groups at the hearing asked Congress to double funding for two export promotion programs. The Market Access Program currently receives $200 million annually, and the Foreign Market Development Program receives $34.5 million, according to a program overview cited in the source material. The Rocky Mountain Farmers Union (RMFU) argued that past policy contributed to reliance on unreliable export markets and a loss of domestic processing capacity. RMFU president Chad Franke called the Senate farm bill "more of the same" and an extension of what he described as bad farm and food policy.

What Happens Next?

The Senate has not yet acted on the farm bill the House passed in April. No Senate vote is currently scheduled, and Thompson said he expected the Senate to move on it.

The hearing record now includes testimony from a range of agricultural sectors, which lawmakers can draw on as the farm bill debate continues. Until the Senate acts and both chambers agree on a final version, existing farm programs remain in place under current law, with no new funding or policy changes taking effect.

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This article was generated by AI pulling from data. Each article is edited by an editor for accuracy and clarity.

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