Washington, DC – Jonesboro Right Now – Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-AR) says he intends to bring the Farm Bill back before the committee as soon as lawmakers return from the August recess after Thursday’s dramatic 11-10 vote that stalled legislation many in agriculture had hoped would finally update the nation’s farm policy.

Speaking with agricultural reporters Friday morning, Boozman called the committee’s failure to advance the legislation “extremely disappointing” and insisted the proposal itself had broad bipartisan support. Instead, he said the impasse centered almost entirely on disagreements over how states would be held accountable for errors in administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“The debate needs to be about passing a farm bill that supports producers in rural communities, not about preserving the gross mismanagement of SNAP benefits by states,” Boozman said.

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Thursday’s committee vote failed after every Democrat opposed the bill, leaving it one vote short of advancing. Republicans had hoped to move the legislation to the Senate floor before Congress leaves for its August recess.

The committee’s Republican majority was also missing Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is recovering from health issues, while Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama left the hearing before the vote and was not permitted to vote by proxy.

Boozman plans another vote in September

Rather than adjourning Thursday’s committee meeting, Boozman recessed it, preserving the ability to reconvene when senators return to Washington.

“We’ll have another meeting,” he said. “I can call this bill up again and we’re going to vote on it again and see if we can just push this thing over the finish line.”

He said he expects the committee to revisit the measure during the first week Congress returns in September, likely after ensuring absent Republican members are back in Washington.

However, Boozman emphasized he still wants bipartisan support rather than simply relying on attendance changes.

“It doesn’t need to be a party-line vote,” he said. “We need a good bipartisan vote.”

Arkansas senator says farmers aren’t the problem

Throughout Friday’s discussion, Boozman repeatedly argued that the legislation’s agricultural provisions themselves were largely undisputed.

He pointed to provisions that would:

  • Strengthen the farm safety net.
  • Raise outdated USDA loan limits so farmers can finance modern equipment and facilities.
  • Expand assistance for specialty crop growers.
  • Permanently authorize year-round nationwide E15 gasoline sales.
  • Increase funding for food banks while adding fraud-reduction measures such as chip-enabled SNAP cards.

“The world is totally different than it was in 2018,” Boozman said, noting that the current Farm Bill was written using economic assumptions from years ago and expired in 2023 before being extended.

He said increasing federal farm loan limits is particularly important because current caps are based on 2012 economic data despite dramatic inflation in land, equipment and construction costs.

SNAP dispute remains sticking point

While opponents have criticized portions of the nutrition title, Boozman insisted Friday that the committee debate wasn’t really about traditional SNAP policy.

During the media availability, JRN asked Boozman whether Congress could separate the agricultural portions of the legislation from the nutrition title and advance the farm provisions independently.

“From the outside, it appears the true farm pieces of the Farm Bill are not in dispute,” JRN asked. “Is there a path where the real farm pieces of this bill could be carved out and considered independently and set the SNAP piece aside and work that out separately?”

Boozman’s answer was direct.

“No,” he replied.

He said Democratic opposition is focused almost exclusively on proposed penalties tied to state SNAP payment error rates rather than on farm policy itself.

“It’s not about SNAP,” Boozman said. “They’re concerned exclusively with this error rate thing.”

Under the proposal, states with persistently high SNAP payment error rates would eventually be required to share more of the financial responsibility for overpayments. Boozman said Republicans had already compromised by giving states an additional year to meet performance standards.

He argued that every state has demonstrated in recent years that maintaining an error rate below six percent is achievable and maintained the issue is one of administrative management rather than benefit cuts.

“This is not about taking away people that deserve the dollars,” Boozman said. “This is about taking away money that is either overpaid or paid to people that don’t belong on the program.”

Farmers face mounting financial pressure

Boozman warned that delaying another Farm Bill comes at a time when many producers are already under severe economic stress.

“If you’re growing something out of the ground, you’re losing money,” he said, adding that lenders have warned more farms could fail if conditions don’t improve.

“We’ve had more bankruptcies this year than in the last probably four or four-and-a-half years in Arkansas.”

He urged farmers to contact senators during the August recess and encourage support for moving the legislation forward when Congress reconvenes.

Looking ahead

Despite Thursday’s events, Boozman said he remains optimistic a bipartisan agreement can still be reached.

He plans to continue discussions with Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar, D-MN, as well as House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson, R-PA, during the August recess in hopes of resolving remaining differences before another committee vote.

“I remain committed to working with anyone who’s serious about getting a bipartisan Farm Bill across the finish line,” Boozman said.

With only a few legislative weeks remaining before the end of the year, Boozman acknowledged the timeline is growing increasingly tight but said producers deserve certainty after years of operating under extensions of the 2018 Farm Bill.

“If you’re a farmer today,” he said, “they should be upset.”

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