Farm Bills: Major Legislative Actions, 1965-2026

Contents

• Current Farm Bill Reauthorization Timeline
• Historical Farm Bill Reauthorization Timelines
• Extensions
• Presidential Vetoes
• Potential Implications for Congress

Summary

The farm bill provides an opportunity for Congress to address agricultural and food issues comprehensively about every five years. Over time, farm bills have tended to become more complicated and politically sensitive. As a result, the timeline for reauthorization has become less certain. Recent farm bills have been subject to various developments that have delayed enactment, such as insufficient votes to pass the House floor, presidential vetoes, and extensions.

The most recent farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill; P.L. 115-334), expired in 2023. It has been extended three times, for a year at a time, most recently in November 2025 to cover FY2026 (P.L. 119-37, Division E, §5002). Policies covering crop years 2026-2031 are partially addressed by a budget reconciliation law enacted in 2025.

In 2025, Congress amended selected provisions of the 2018 farm bill through an agriculture title (Title I) in an FY2025 budget reconciliation law (P.L. 119-21). The FY2025 budget reconciliation law included changes to some farm bill programs with mandatory spending. Budget reconciliation rules did not allow policy changes that did not have a mandatory spending budgetary effect. This left some farm bill programs facing expiration and legislators seeking changes in a subsequent farm bill reauthorization package.

In 2026, the House passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567) to amend and reauthorize farm bill programs. The bill was introduced on February 13, 2026, passed by the House Committee on Agriculture on March 5, and passed by the chamber on April 30. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry has not marked up a farm bill during the 119^th Congress. On June 23, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee released draft bill text.

The 2018 farm bill took eight months from introduction to passage, though it did not pass in the initial House vote. By comparison, the 2014 farm bill took more than 21 months from introduction to enactment, did not pass in the initial House vote, and spanned the 112^th and 113^th Congresses, including a one-year extension. The 2008 farm bill took more than a year to enact and was complicated by revenue provisions from another committee of jurisdiction, temporary extensions, and vetoes.

This report summarizes the major legislative milestones for the last 12 farm bills.

Afarm bill is a collection of laws and changes to laws that authorize, reauthorize, or amend various food, agriculture, and rural policies. Congress has passed farm bills about every five years for nearly a century. A periodic farm bill provides Congress with an opportunity to reexamine agriculture and food policies and programs.¹ Over time, farm bills have tended to become more complicated and politically sensitive. This has made the timeline for reauthorization less certain. Recent farm bills have experienced delayed enactment, extensions, insufficient votes to pass on the floor of a chamber, and presidential vetoes.

This report examines the major legislative milestones for the current reauthorization and past 12 farm bills over 62 years, a period representing the evolution of modern farm bills with growing complexity and a diverse content of policy titles. Table 1 contains a history of major legislative action on farm bills since 1965. Figure 1 shows the major dates on a timeline using the two-year congressional sessions for each farm bill.

Current Farm Bill Reauthorization Timeline

The most recent farm bill, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 farm bill; P.L. 115-334), expired in 2023. It was extended three times, for a year at a time: in November 2023 to cover FY2024 and crop year 2024 (P.L. 118-22, Division B, §102); in December 2024 to cover FY2025 and crop year 2025 (P.L. 118-158, Division D, §4101); and in November 2025 to cover FY2026 (P.L. 119-37, Division E, §5002). Policy for crop years 2026-2031 is partially covered by a 2025 budget reconciliation law, as discussed below.

In 2024, the House Committee on Agriculture ordered reported a farm bill, H.R. 8467, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2024.² The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry did not mark up a farm bill.

In 2025, Congress amended selected provisions of the 2018 farm bill through an agriculture title (Title I) in an FY2025 budget reconciliation law (P.L. 119-21). The FY2025 budget reconciliation law included changes to some farm bill programs with mandatory spending, including farm bill titles for farm commodities, nutrition, crop insurance, and conservation, as well as relatively smaller programs in the trade, research, energy, horticulture, and miscellaneous titles with mandatory spending. The FY2025 budget reconciliation law did not reauthorize or address all farm bill programs. Budget reconciliation rules did not allow policy changes that did not have a mandatory spending budgetary effect. Budget reconciliation did not address changes to authorizations for discretionary spending programs. This left some farm bill programs facing expiration and legislators seeking changes through a subsequent farm bill reauthorization package.³

In 2026, the House has passed the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567) to amend and reauthorize farm bill programs.⁴ The bill was introduced on February 13, 2026, passed by the House Committee on Agriculture on March 5, and passed by the chamber on April 30. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry has not marked up a farm bill during the 119^th Congress. On June 23, the chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee released draft bill text.⁵

Figure 1. Major Legislative Actions on Farm Bills, 1965-2026

Source: CRS.

Historical Farm Bill Reauthorization Timelines

In the past seven decades, most farm bills were introduced in the first session of a two-year Congress. Over time, farm bills have generally taken longer to complete, sometimes extending into the second session of Congress but usually completed within a 12-month period.⁶ Two of the three most recent farm bills started in one Congress, were not completed, and were reintroduced in the next Congress. The duration of the conference committee's course after both chambers have passed a bill generally also has become longer.

The current farm bill reauthorization period is the longest on record, spanning the 118^th and 119^th Congresses, and the first partially completed by using budget reconciliation.

The second longest farm bill reauthorization was the 2014 farm bill, which took more than 21 months from its introduction in 2012 to enactment in 2014. It began in the 112^th Congress and was reintroduced in the 113^th Congress. In 2013, the bill did not pass in the initial House vote; the House then passed separate farm and nutrition assistance bills—the first time a chamber-passed farm bill did not include a nutrition title since 1973. The House later procedurally recombined the bills for conference with the Senate.

The shortest farm bill debate in the past seven decades was the 1973 farm bill, which was enacted less than three months after being introduced.

The 2018 reauthorization period was a relatively short eight months but included some procedural hurdles. The bill did not pass in the initial House vote before it was reconsidered and passed a month later.

Extensions

Extensions of a prior farm bill while its successor is being written had been atypical but are now common in three of the past four reauthorizations (resulting in extensions during 2008, 2013, and 2024-2026).

When the 2002 farm bill expired, portions of it were extended six times for less than a year total beginning in December 2007.⁷ These extensions were for relatively short periods totaling about five months during final House and Senate negotiations.

When the 2008 farm bill expired, the entire farm bill was extended in January 2013 for all of FY2013 and the 2013 crop year.⁸

When extensions were enacted for both the 2002 and 2008 farm bills, each had been expired for about three months (from October through December in 2007 and 2012, respectively) before extensions were enacted beginning in December. While the 2014 farm bill was expired from October 1 until the 2018 farm bill was enacted in February 2018, a continuing resolution for appropriations continued many program operations, though some new program activity had ceased.⁹

In 2023, no markups or floor action had occurred to reauthorize the 2018 farm bill by the time it expired. Congress enacted a one-year extension in November 2023. A second one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill was enacted at the end of the 118^th Congress.¹⁰ A third one-year extension was enacted in November 2025 to cover FY2026, after some parts of the farm bill—namely the commodities title—had been reauthorized as part of budget reconciliation.¹¹

Presidential Vetoes

Presidential vetoes of farm bills have not been common. President George W. Bush vetoed the 2008 farm bill (H.R. 2419). When Congress overrode the veto to enact P.L. 110-234, it accidentally enrolled the law without Title III (the trade title). Congress immediately reintroduced the same bill with the trade title (H.R. 6124). President Bush vetoed this version as well, and Congress again overrode the veto to enact P.L. 110-246, a complete 2008 farm bill that included the trade title. The overrides in 2008 were the only time that a farm bill was enacted as a result of a veto override.

President Clinton vetoed a 1995 budget reconciliation package that included the first version of what became the 1996 farm bill, but the veto was not due to the farm bill itself but rather the controversial nature of the reconciliation bill in which the farm bill was embedded.

Prior to 1965, the first veto of a farm bill was in 1956, when President Eisenhower vetoed H.R. 12 (84^th Congress), the first version of the Agricultural Act of 1956.

Potential Implications for Congress

Farm bill reauthorization has tended to become more complex and produce greater political sensitivity. The process of enacting a new farm bill prior to the expiration of the then current law has become more difficult. As stakeholders in the farm bill have become more diverse, more people are affected by the legislative uncertainty around the farm bill process. This lack of certainty may compound questions about the availability of future program benefits. Experiences from delays in reauthorization may prompt legislators to propose that some programs be amended to have longer or permanent authorizations so that they do not expire. Prioritization given to some programs may cause them to become separated from the farm bill and amended through other legislative vehicles. Such divisions may be temporary or may gradually reduce the breadth of the farm bill and its coalition. Repeated extensions may not achieve updates to programs to reflect inflation, changing budget considerations, or evolution in societal, business, or academic practices.

Footnotes