WASHINGTON — On June 11, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry John Boozman released a drafted framework for the Senate farm bill.

“From the onset of this process, we have sought to draft a farm bill that reflects the needs of stakeholders,” Boozman said. “The world has changed dramatically since the 2018 bill became law, and the unprecedented challenges and economic uncertainty that farmers face now are only projected to get worse in the coming years. This is why producers have been calling on senators to put more farm in the farm bill.”

The framework looks to modernize the farm safety net, improve conservation and nutrition programs, increase access to overseas markets, strengthen resources to protect the nation’s food supply against foreign animal disease (FAD), authorize the National Detector Dog Training Center, grant processors the ability to run at safe and efficient line speeds, and offer a solution to the consequences posed by California’s Proposition 12 ruling.

“Ranking Member Boozman and Senate Agriculture Republicans have put forward a slate of thoughtful proposals that must be addressed in the next farm bill,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson. “Their framework elevates the urgent needs voiced by diverse stakeholders across the country, and articulates common-sense solutions in response, an approach the House Committee on Agriculture took in developing and advancing the bipartisan Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2024."

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) also supported the framework, noting that the draft represented all the group’s priorities.

“On behalf of America’s 60,000-plus pork producers, we thank Ranking Member Boozman for a farm bill framework that listens to and answers producers’ calls for foreign animal disease prevention resources, market access expansion, relief from burdensome multi-state regulations and more,” said NPPC President Lori Stevermer, a pork producer from Easton, Minn. “After a successful markup of the House Agriculture Committee’s farm bill, we urge swift action by Chairwoman Stabenow and Ranking Member Boozman to protect producers from a patchwork of regulations across 50 states and provide certainty to the food supply chain.”

While the framework is garnering support from producers and Republicans, according to House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member David Scott, the draft may need more revision before Democrats sign off on it.

“By copying the approach taken by House Agriculture Republicans, the Senate Agriculture Republican minority has chosen to ignore Democratic warnings by putting forth policies, particularly on nutrition, that Democrats cannot and will not accept,” Scott said. “The worst-kept secret in the agriculture community is that a farm bill with the Republican proposal on the Thrifty Food Plan will never become law. Who will acknowledge this reality first, House or Senate Republicans? Or will they continue to place their ideological obsession with making massive cuts to SNAP over the real need of our farmers to enact a farm bill this year?”

In May, the House passed the farm bill draft on a 33-21 vote, of which only four Democrats approved. NPPC said the House draft also included 100% of its priorities.