Why It Matters: Generally reauthorized every five years, the last full iteration of the Farm Bill expired in late-2023. Representing one of the largest and most important pieces of legislation passed by Congress, the Farm Bill covers topics ranging from crop insurance to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps). The Farm Bill’s provisions touch nearly all Americans in one way or another. For sportsmen and women, our nation’s original conservationists, the Farm Bill’s Conservation and Forestry Titles represent some of the greatest investments in fish, wildlife, and forest conservation in the world. Friday’s announcement regarding the 2026 Farm Bill represents a positive step toward the full reauthorization of this important legislation.
Highlights
- On Friday, February 13th, House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson (PA) released draft text of the 2026 Farm Bill, a critical starting point as Congress looks to fully reauthorize the legislation for the first time since 2023.
- Last year, many of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) priorities were incorporated into the Farm Bill’s baseline through the One Big Beautiful Bill, but CSF remains engaged in hopes of advancing more priorities important to sportsmen and women.
- In addition to numerous existing programs that are already critical for sportsmen and women, the Farm Bill draft released Friday included the creation of the Forest Conservation Easement Program, a top priority for CSF and many partners in the sporting-conservation community.
Last Friday, House Agriculture Committee Chairman and Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Congressman G.T. Thompson announced The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, his version of the 2026 Farm Bill. Since last expiring in 2023, the Farm Bill has existed in the form of single-year continuations with changes incorporated through the Inflation Reduction Act and the One Big Beautiful Bill. However, Friday’s announcement represents an important step toward the full reauthorization of this critical piece of legislation.
While both the Inflation Reduction Act and the One Big Beautiful Bill saw significant investments in the Farm Bill’s Conservation Title that accomplished many priorities set by CSF and our partners within the community, the full reauthorization of the bill is critical for the continued success of many programs. Chief among these is the original Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that served as the foundation for today’s Conservation Title. As currently written, the 2026 Farm Bill would reauthorize CRP while maintaining the program’s current overall acreage cap at 27 million acres. Other Conservation Title wins include the provisions of the PRECISE Act, which incorporates the costs of precision agriculture technologies and practices into working lands programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP).
The Forestry Title includes several longstanding priorities for CSF and the sportsmen’s community, including, among others, a Cottonwood fix, increased acreages for several categorical exclusions to restore forests and increase resilience to wildfire, Good Neighbor Authority expansions, Stewardship Contracting expansion, Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program reauthorization, Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership Program reauthorization, and an initiative to restore white oaks. Additionally, the legislation supports emerging markets for forest products programs, creates a categorical exclusion for high-priority hazard trees to facilitate forest restoration work and reduce access closures to public lands, and increases transparency for hazardous fuels reduction work reporting, among other provisions to improve forest health on public and private lands.
In the Conservation Title, the 2026 Farm Bill would create the Forest Conservation Easement Program (FCEP) to support the conservation of working forests. FCEP would fill a gap in federal conservation programs by allowing Indian Tribes, state and local governments, and other eligible entities (e.g., land trusts) to purchase and hold voluntary conservation easements from willing forest landowners. The legislation repeals the Healthy Forests Reserve Program and provides landowners with the option of conserving their forest land through either a Forest Land Easement or Forest Reserve Easement. Working forests provide fish and wildlife habitat and access for sportsmen and women, and FCEP’s establishment will help prevent the conversion of forests to non-forest uses.
CSF’s federal policy team looks forward to working with Congress to advance pragmatic agriculture, forestry, and fisheries policy priorities as conversations around the 2026 Farm Bill continue. While the bill still has a long way to go before becoming law, CSF remains optimistic in pursuit of strong opportunities for private landowners, wildlife habitat, and, most importantly, sportsmen and women through the 2026 Farm Bill.
