House farm bill would set hemp testing, pesticide label authority
Source: Roll Call
Posted February 13, 2026 at 3:33pm
The House Agriculture Committee on Friday unveiled a five-year farm bill ahead of the scheduled Feb. 23 markup of a measure that could divide members across regional lines as much as political ones. The draft bill would set intoxicant testing requirements for hemp, give the EPA sole authority for pesticide labeling, restrict states from setting animal cruelty standards that apply to other states, and move the orphaned Food for Peace program to the Agriculture Department from the shuttered U.S. Agency for International Development.
The issues are to some extent more regional than political, with members from both parties supporting provisions important to their states. The farm bill has historically balanced Republicans’ rural interests with Democrats’ urban ones to secure enough votes for passage. The summary also includes several arcane provisions, including one that would make propane used for drying or in handling equipment eligible for a USDA program providing low-interest loans to finance storage facilities. Another would protect producers “from Washington dysfunction” by making sure they can use marketing assistance loans during a government shutdown.
Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson said Thursday the committee would begin marking the bill up on Feb. 23, indicating the drafting session could take several days. The bill, if enacted, would be the first long-term farm bill since 2018. The Senate hasn’t yet released its version of the new farm bill.
The initial reaction from the House panel’s top Democrat signaled there may not be much bipartisan support for the bill in its current form. “The Republican majority instead chose to ignore Democratic priorities and focus on pushing a shell of a farm bill with poison pills that complicates if not derails chances of getting anything done,” Agriculture ranking member Angie Craig, D-Minn., said in a statement.
Read more: https://rollcall.com/2026/02/13/house-farm-bill-would-set-hemp-testing-pesticide-label-authority/
Note that the Farm Bill also includes provisions for SNAP and they have spent the past number of years kicking it onto C.R.s "as is", with few updates and instead of updating as a new 5-year appropriation. The last time it went through the full process was in 2018.
