Contents

• Description of Agriculture Appropriations
• Summary of FY2027 Action
• Total FY2027 Appropriations and Trends
• Scope of Agriculture Appropriations
• Amounts for Agencies and Programs in FY2027
• Administration's Request
• Subcommittee Allocations
• House-Passed Bill
• Other Appropriations Issues
• Policy-Related Provisions
• Congressionally Directed Spending (Earmarks)

Summary

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Agriculture appropriations) funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—except for the U.S. Forest Service—and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, in the Department of Health and Human Services). It also carries the funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in alternating fiscal years; jurisdiction for CFTC appropriations is with Agriculture appropriations in the House and a different subcommittee in the Senate.

Agriculture appropriations acts include both discretionary and mandatory funding, which differentiates Agriculture appropriations from some other appropriations acts. Congressional debate on appropriations is primarily about discretionary spending. Appropriations for mandatory spending programs, although not usually debated, are necessary to technically make funds available for those programs (e.g., entitlement programs, such as farm safety net and nutrition assistance programs, that were previously enacted under separate budget enforcement procedures).

The primary discretionary spending accounts are for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); agricultural research; rural development loans and grants; the FDA; foreign food assistance and trade promotion; farm agency salaries and loans; food safety inspection; animal and plant health programs; and conservation program technical assistance.

Below is an overview of the legislative actions and amounts in FY2027 Agriculture appropriations compared with prior years.

The Trump Administration released its budget request on April 3, 2026. The Administration proposed $22.055 billion for discretionary appropriations in the jurisdiction of Agriculture appropriations, a reduction of $4.923 billion from FY2026 (-18.2%). The largest reductions would eliminate appropriations for Foreign Agricultural Service Food for Peace (FFP) Title II international food aid grants (-$1.2 billion, -100.0%), the Rural Housing Service (RHS) Community Facilities Program (-$664 million, -100%), the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program (-$240 million, -100.0%), formula funding for university agricultural research under the Hatch Act (-$265 million, -100.0%), and the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS, -$81 million, -100.0%) and would reduce Conservation Operations in the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, -$739 million, -87%), Food and Nutrition Administration Commodity Assistance Programs (-$460 million, -83.5%), Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program (-$243 million, -54.6%), and WIC (-$200 million, -2.4%). Accounts proposed for increases include the RHS Rental Assistance Program (+$80 million (+4.7%) and several USDA administrative accounts (+$55 million, +12.5%).

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee) voted to send a markup to the full committee on April 23, 2026. The House Committee on Appropriations reported a bill (H.R. 8646, H.Rept. 119-632) on April 29. The House passed the bill on June 4. The bill would provide $26.265 billion in discretionary spending, a decrease of about $713 million from FY2026 (-2.6%) on a comparable basis, including the CFTC in FY2026 levels and $4.209 billion more than the Trump Administration's request. The largest reduction would be from FFP (-$300 million, -25.0%), followed by RHS Community Facilities Grants (-$254 million, -38.3%), WIC (-$200 million, -2.4%), RUS Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program (-$59 million, -13.1%), and NRCS (-$63 million, -7.0%). Accounts proposed for increases include the RHS Rental Assistance Program (+$80 million, +4.7%), RBCS Guaranteed Business and Industry Loans (+$23 million; +148%), Food Safety and Inspection Service (+$11 million, +0.9%), and several USDA administrative accounts.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not marked up a bill for FY2027 Agriculture appropriations. A continuing resolution (P.L. 119-103) was enacted on September 2, 2026, that funds government operations at FY2026 levels until December 11, 2026.

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Description of Agriculture Appropriations

The Agriculture Appropriations Act—formally known as the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (referred to as Agriculture appropriations in this report)—funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), except for the U.S. Forest Service.¹ It also funds the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Department of Health and Human Services and, in certain cases based on committee jurisdiction, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC, an independent agency).²

Congressional consideration of appropriations bills primarily concerns discretionary spending. However, Agriculture appropriations include both discretionary and mandatory funding, which differentiates them from some other appropriations acts. For example, while the level of mandatory spending for farm commodity and nutrition assistance programs is set in the farm bill, appropriations are technically required for funding to be available.³ Specifically, the Commodity Credit Corporation—a line of credit with the U.S. Treasury—needs a reimbursement in appropriations to continue operating.⁴ The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) needs an annual appropriation to fulfill its authorization.⁵ This report focuses mostly on discretionary appropriations but includes tables for the mandatory appropriations included in Agriculture appropriations.

Summary of FY2027 Action

The Trump Administration released its full FY2027 budget request on April 3, 2026.⁶

On April 23, 2026, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee) voted 10-7 to send a markup to the full committee. On April 29, the House Committee on Appropriations reported the bill (H.R. 8646, H.Rept. 119-632) by a vote of 35-25. Sixteen amendments were offered: five were adopted, nine were not adopted, and two were withdrawn.⁷ On June 4, the bill was passed by the House by a vote of 213-210. Under a structured rule (H.Res. 1333), 26 amendments were made in order, of which 23 were adopted by voice vote in an en bloc amendment.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not marked up a bill for FY2027 Agriculture appropriations. A continuing resolution (P.L. 119-103) was enacted on September 2, 2026, that funds government operations at FY2026 levels until December 11, 2026.

See Table 1 for links to the documents and Figure 1 for a timeline of legislative actions compared with the previous two fiscal years.

Figure 1. Timeline of Legislative Actions on Agriculture Appropriations

Source: Figure created by CRS. Notes: The figure excludes short-term continuing resolutions (CRs). Gray shading shows the beginning of each fiscal year.

Total FY2027 Appropriations and Trends

The total amounts of discretionary appropriations proposed for FY2027 are shown in Table 2 for the differing jurisdictions of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.

• The Trump Administration's budget request is $22.055 billion of discretionary budget authority for accounts in the jurisdiction of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture.⁸ This would be a decrease of nearly $4.923 billion from FY2026 enacted levels in P.L. 119-37 (-18.2%).
• H.R. 8646, the House-passed bill, would provide $26.265 billion, a decrease of about $713 million from FY2026 (-2.6%) on a comparable basis including the CFTC in FY2026 levels. The House-passed bill would provide $4.209 billion more than the Trump Administration's request.

The nominal total of discretionary Agriculture appropriations generally has increased from FY2017 to FY2026. The House-passed proposal would be at approximately FY2024 nominal levels. The Administration's proposal for FY2027 would be lower than FY2018 on a nominal basis. On an inflation-adjusted basis in FY2026 dollars, Agriculture appropriations are below FY2017 levels and have been decreasing since FY2018 (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations: FY2017-FY2026 and FY2027 Proposals

Source: Figure created by CRS using appropriations acts; committee reports; "Budget Appendix: Detailed Budget Estimates by Agency," in Office of Management and Budget, FY2027 President's Budget; H.R. 8646; H.Rept. 119-632; and unpublished Congressional Budget Office tables. Notes: The figure excludes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and supplemental appropriations. Adjusted for inflation using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Gross Domestic Product price index, Table 1.1.4, using Q4 of the calendar year (Q1 of the fiscal year).

Scope of Agriculture Appropriations

As discussed in "Description of Agriculture Appropriations," agricultural programs in the federal government rely on both discretionary and mandatory spending. This section describes specific mandatory and discretionary spending in Agriculture appropriations and the relative sizes of the major agencies and functions.

FY2026 discretionary Agriculture appropriations were $26.6 billion ($27.0 billion including CFTC), distributed among the programs or agencies in the green stacked bar in Figure 3. Appropriations for mandatory spending programs were about $176.3 billion, as shown by the gray shading in the pie graph (Figure 3), relative to the discretionary total.

Figure 3. Scope of Agriculture and Related Agencies Appropriations, FY2026 Budget authority in billions of dollars

Source: Figure created by CRS using P.L. 119-37; explanatory statement in Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 171, no. 189 (November 9, 2025), p. S8043; and unpublished Congressional Budget Office tables. Notes: The figure excludes supplemental appropriations acts and excludes the CFTC on the basis of jurisdiction of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture. Amounts in the figure may not add to the totals in Table 3 and Table 4 because of rounding. FSA = Farm Service Agency; RMA = Risk Management Agency; FPAC Business = Farm Production and Conservation Business Center; FSIS = Food Safety and Inspection Service; NRCS = Natural Resources Conservation Service. The amount shown for Section 32 (formally known as Funds for Strengthening Markets, Income, and Supply) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's reserved spending authority for payments and procurement (see CRS In Focus IF12193, Farm and Food Support Under USDA's Section 32 Account). The amount for the Commodity Credit Corporation is the reimbursement for net realized losses (see CRS Report R44606, The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC)).

Most programs in Agriculture appropriations are in the authorizing jurisdiction of the House Committee on Agriculture and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Some programs funded through Agriculture appropriations are not in the jurisdiction of the Agriculture authorizing committees. The FDA is in the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In rural development, Rural Housing Service (RHS) programs, except for community facilities loans and grants, are in the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. In the Food and Nutrition Administration (FNA, formerly known as Food and Nutrition Service [FNS]),⁹ the child nutrition programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are in the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Education and Workforce and the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Amounts for Agencies and Programs in FY2027

Table 3 provides discretionary appropriations agency-level detail for the FY2027 Administration's request and H.R. 8646 and compares them with the previous two fiscal years. Figure 4 shows the dollar changes at agency or account levels from FY2026 to the proposed amounts for FY2027; Figure 5 shows the percentage changes from FY2026 to the proposed amounts for FY2027. Table 4 shows the appropriations for mandatory spending programs. Tables in the Appendix provide additional details for selected topics.

Administration's Request

The Trump Administration FY2027 proposal for discretionary appropriations that is in the jurisdiction of Agriculture appropriations is $22.055 billion, which would be a reduction of $4.923 billion from the FY2026 levels in P.L. 119-37 (-18.2%).

The largest reduction would be from the elimination of Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Food for Peace Title II international food aid grants (FFP, -$1.2 billion, -100.0%), followed by reductions of the Conservation Operations account to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, -$739 million, -86.9%), research and extension grants by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (-$655 million, -32.3%), grants and loans in the RHS (-$648 million, -20.9%), FNA Commodity Assistance Programs (-$460 million, -83.5%), grants and loans in the Rural Utilities Service (RUS, -$330 million, -55.4%; including to the Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program, -$243 million, -54.6%), Farm Service Agency salaries, expenses and programs (-$266 million, -22.7%), the FAS McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program (McGovern-Dole, -$240 million, -100.0%), and WIC (-$200 million, -2.4%).

In percentage terms of reductions, the Administration's request would eliminate appropriations for FFP (-$1.2 billion, -100.0%), formula funding for university agricultural research under the Hatch Act (-$265 million, -100.0%), McGovern-Dole (-$240 million, -100.0%), and the Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBCS, -$81 million, -100.0%).

Accounts proposed for increases include the RHS Rental Assistance Program (+$80 million (+4.7%), the Agricultural Census in the National Agricultural Statistics Service (+$2.5 million, +5.4%), and several USDA administrative accounts, including Buildings and Facilities (+$55 million, +366%), Office of the Chief Information Officer (+$50 million, +59%), Office of Homeland Security (+$14 million, +798%), and Departmental Administration (+$10 million, +59%). A reduction in the amount of rescissions in the bill compared with FY2026 would increase the net appropriation by $345 million (because of less offsetting reductions).

Subcommittee Allocations

The total amount allowed for discretionary appropriations is controlled by congressional budget enforcement rules.¹⁰ Typically, each chamber's appropriations committee would receive a top-line limit on discretionary budget authority from the chamber's budget committee via an annual budget resolution, referred to as a "302(a)" allocation. The appropriations committees would subdivide the allocation among the 12 appropriations subcommittees, referred to as "302(b)" allocations.¹¹

For FY2027, the House and Senate Budget Committees did not approve a budget resolution with discretionary spending limits. The appropriations committees may set (deem) spending levels during meetings to mark up separate subcommittee bills.¹²

On April 22, 2026, the House Committee on Appropriations ordered reported interim subcommittee allocations for six subcommittees.¹³ The allocation for the Agriculture subcommittee is $26.270 billion. The Senate Committee on Appropriations has not set limits for any of its appropriations subcommittees.

House-Passed Bill, H.R. 8646

The House-passed bill, H.R. 8646, would provide $26.265 billion, a decrease of about $713 million from FY2026 (-2.6%) on a comparable basis including the CFTC in FY2026 levels. The House-passed bill would provide $4.209 billion more than the Trump Administration's request and does not follow most of the Administration's largest proposed reductions.

The largest reduction would be from FFP (-$300 million, -25.0%), followed by WIC (-$200 million, -2.4%), RHS Community Facilities Grants (-$254 million, -38.3%), RUS (-$79 million, -13.3% [including the Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program, -$59 million, -13.1%]), and NRCS (-$63 million, -7.0%).

The largest increases would be for the RHS Rental Assistance Program (+$80 million, +4.7%), RBCS Guaranteed Business and Industry Loans (+$23 million; +148%), Food Safety and Inspection Service (+11 million, +0.9%), and several USDA administrative accounts, including the Office of the Chief Information Officer (+$39 million, +46%) and the Office of Homeland Security (+$14 million, +798%). A reduction in the amount of rescissions in the bill compared with FY2026 would increase the net appropriation by $365 million (because of less offsetting reductions).

Figure 4. Changes in Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations from FY2026 to FY2027 Proposals Change in budget authority in millions of dollars

Source: Figure created by CRS using P.L. 119-37, Division B; explanatory statement in Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 171, no. 189 (November 9, 2025), p. S8043; "Budget Appendix: Detailed Budget Estimates by Agency," in Office of Management and Budget, FY2027 President's Budget; H.R. 8646; H.Rept. 119-632; and unpublished Congressional Budget Office tables. Notes: The figure excludes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and supplemental appropriations acts. Agencies and programs are ordered as shown in Table 3. WIC = Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children; CHIMPs = changes in mandatory spending programs.

Figure 5. Percentage Changes in Discretionary Agriculture Appropriations from FY2026 to FY2027 Proposals

Source: Figure created by CRS using P.L. 119-37, Division B; explanatory statement in Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 171, no. 189 (November 9, 2025), p. S8043; "Budget Appendix: Detailed Budget Estimates by Agency," in Office of Management and Budget, FY2027 President's Budget; H.R. 8646; H.Rept. 119-632; and unpublished Congressional Budget Office tables. Notes: The figure excludes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission supplemental appropriations acts. Agencies and programs are ordered as shown in Table 3. WIC = Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children; CHIMPs = changes in mandatory spending programs.

Other Appropriations Issues

Policy-Related Provisions

Appropriations acts set spending authority and may serve as vehicles for policy-related limitations and so-called "riders" (language extraneous to the subject of the bill) that direct executive branch actions.¹⁴ These provisions may have the force of law if they are included in an act's text, but their effect is generally limited to the current fiscal year unless they amend the U.S. Code, which is not typical in appropriations acts. Report language may also provide policy directions for agencies but does not carry the force of law.

Congress has directed that committee reports and the joint explanatory statement are to be read together to capture congressional intent.

The joint explanatory statement accompanying this division is approved and indicates congressional intent. Unless otherwise noted, the language set forth in H.Rept. 119–172 and S.Rept. 119–37 carries the same weight as language included in this joint explanatory statement and should be complied with unless specifically addressed to the contrary in this joint explanatory statement. While some language is repeated for emphasis, it is not intended to negate the language referred to above unless expressly provided herein.¹⁵

Congressionally Directed Spending (Earmarks)

Congressional earmarks are defined in the 119^th Congress as a type of congressional spending action that noncompetitively benefits a specific entity or locality.¹⁶ The House Committee on Appropriations refers to these as Community Project Funding, and the Senate Committee on Appropriations refers to these as Congressionally Directed Spending.

Beginning in FY2022 and continuing to FY2024, after about a decade of no earmarks, the House and Senate allowed earmarks in annual appropriations acts, including in Agriculture appropriations.¹⁷ The FY2025 yearlong CR did not include earmarks and reduced funding commensurately for accounts that had been earmarked in FY2024. In FY2026, earmarks resumed; 6 accounts in the enacted appropriation contained 509 earmarks totaling $643 million.

For FY2027, 5 USDA accounts have Community Project Funding in the House-passed bill: ARS Buildings and Facilities; NRCS Conservation Operations; RUS Water and Waste Disposal Program grants; and RUS Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program grants. There were 592 earmark projects totaling $604 million (Table 5). Earmarks were requested by 196 Representatives or Delegates from 45 states, the District of Columbia, and 4 territories.¹⁸

The Community Facilities account comprises 73% of the number of earmarks and 66% of the dollar amount of earmarks in Agriculture appropriations. Nearly all of this account is earmarked (97%), leaving little for USDA to allocate competitively. The Rural Water and Waste Disposal account is the next largest earmark recipient, with 21% of the number of earmarks and 22% of the amount. More of this account's total remains available for competitive allocation; 35% is earmarked. Six infrastructure projects in the Community Facilities, Rural Water and Waste Disposal, and ARS Buildings and Facilities accounts are the largest earmarks, ranging from $5 million to $8.5 million.

Appendix. Additional Detail on USDA Appropriations