Good Day, NAWG!
Congress is officially on recess, back in their home states and districts meeting with constituents, attending fairs, and vying for votes. Ahh yes… election years provide a great opportunity for constituents (us) to reinforce what farmers need from Congress. The list is simple, but certainly not short.
We need (and expect Congress to deliver):
- A modernized, 5-year farm bill that:
- Protects the farm safety net, including ARC, PLC and crop insurance;
- Preserves investments in the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development program essential to moving U.S. wheat overseas;
- Modernizes FSA loan limits and improved growers’ access to credit;
- Maintains voluntary, incentive-based and locally led conversation programs;
- Invests in federally supported agricultural research and land-grant universities;
- Reauthorizes the U.S. grain inspection and standards system; and
- Reinforces the role of U.S. grown crops in international food assistance programs and permanently moves the Food for Peace program to USDA.
- Regulatory certainty based on sound, peer-reviewed science.
- A business environment that allows farmers to earn a profit, instead of operating in the red.
- Actions to reduce the cost of farming, including reducing/eliminating tariffs of all farm inputs like fertilizer feedstocks, crop protection tools, repair parts, and machinery.
- Actions to shore up trading partnerships so we can continue to export wheat to countries who desire high-quality U.S-grown grain.
Please use this time to engage elected officials as they are logging the miles back home in fervor to meet with folks just like you. Perhaps it’s too narrow a view, but for every minute an elected official (however friendly or not) is meeting is a wheat grower, that’s time they are hearing our perspective and our needs, because iI can assure you the priorities of organizations who see things differently than us will also be on full display… even in rural districts. Please attend town hall meetings, open sessions at local and state fairs and even stop by their local offices to pay them a visit. Heck, invite them to visit your farm. NAWG has assembled and distributed talking points and other resources for you to use (see the attached email from July 28th).
As always, your NAWG staff is grateful for active engagement. We do need the voices of farmers, state organizations and allied partners to impress upon our elected officials the urgency of finishing the job on the farm bill, and how difficult it is to turn a profit in the current geo-political environment (not accounting for Mother Nature’s fits).
Please let us know if we can do anything to aid in your visits with Members of Congress
SK
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DC Week Ahead
- There are no congressional meetings planned for this week as both the House and Senate are in recess for the rest of the month of August.
Policy Report
Congress Heads into August Recess with Farm Bill Work Unfinished
Congress has officially entered the August recess following a busy final week in the Senate. Lawmakers cleared several major items before leaving Washington, but several significant priorities remain unresolved heading into September. With the Senate scheduled to return on September 14, the post-recess legislative calendar will be extremely compressed as Congress balances government funding, additional economic assistance, nominations and other priorities ahead of the midterm elections.
The farm bill remains one of those unfinished items. Last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee made substantial progress during consideration of the Agricultural Act of 2026, including advancing several provisions important to wheat growers, but ultimately recessed without reporting the bill because of continued disagreement over SNAP. Chairman John Boozman and Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar are expected to continue discussions during August, with the goal of resuming the markup when senators return. While the delay creates additional pressure on the calendar, the bill remains very much alive, and NAWG will continue working with lawmakers to protect the progress already made and push for completion of a comprehensive, five-year farm bill.
Plan to Join us for the September Fly-In
Work on Farm Bill will continue immediately when Congress returns. NAWG will host its September Fly-In from September 14–17, bringing wheat growers to Washington during the Senate’s first week back in session. The timing will provide an important opportunity for growers to meet directly with lawmakers and reinforce the need to finish the farm bill, preserve key wheat priorities and advance additional economic and disaster assistance for producers facing continued financial pressure. Please confirm with Anthony Pena if you are planning to attend.