RMFU: Farm Bill is Extension of Bad Farm and Food Policy

July 17, 2026 – The newly released Senate version of the Farm Bill spans over 900 pages, so full analysis is still underway but a group representing producers in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming are underwhelmed.

Chad Franke, president of Rocky Mountain Farmer’s Union said this iteration of the Farm Bill is more of the same.

“There are some updates with some lending limit updates,” he said. “We’re thankful the chemical shield provision isn’t in it, but at the end of the day it’s another extension of 30 years of bad farm policy. This is a five-year extension of bad farm policy, rather than one year. We’re a little disappointed. We really want good, new farm policy. Farmers across the country are in dire straights, we’re dealing with billions of dollars in ad hoc disaster payments every year and we get more of the same.”

Franke said RMFU members and leadership are also disappointed that preserving the Prop 12 language is not in the Farm Bill language.

“We are opposed to restricting the state’s right to choose,” he said. “We look at what California did in the Prop 12 vote and it’s something they have every right to do. We also look at it as the ability to create a new niche market. A lot of our small, family farms raise pork in a way that is Prop 12 compliant and to take that away and not allow small producers to enter that niche and fill that need harms our small producers.”

Franke said they are thankful for a renewed commitment to grazing on public lands. He said it’s good conservation and the reduction in the fire load in this overwhelmingly dry year is just one benefit.

Source: Western Ag Network

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung