The House Agriculture Committee on March 5 voted 34 to 17 to advance the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026, commonly known as the 2026 Farm Bill. The vote followed a two-day markup session that spanned roughly 25 hours. The bill will now be considered by the full House of Representatives.During the markup session, several lawmakers offered amendments to the Farm Bill’s Energy Title. One such amendment offered by Rep. Eric Sorenson, D-Ill., sought to add language allowing year-round sales of E15 to the draft Farm Bill. The <a href="https://ethanolproducer.com/articles/house-ag-committee-declines-to-add-e15-language-to-draft-2026-farm-bill">amendment was declined on technical grounds</a>, as the language falls outside the jurisdiction of the House Ag Committee. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, however, expressed support for E15 and committed to working towards passage of E15 legislation using in an appropriate legislative vehicle.&nbsp;Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and Josh Riley, D-N.Y., offered two respective amendments to update the USDA’s Rural Energy for America program. Johnson’s amendment specifies that small cooperatives with 2,500 or fewer employees qualify for REAP funding, while Riley’s amendment included provisions to streamline the REAP application process; strengthen program outreach, technical assistance and education; and create a modest fund to support projects using underutilized renewable energy technologies. Both amendments were agreed to by committee members.&nbsp;The House Agriculture Committee <a href="https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/house-ag-committee-releases-farm-bill-draft-with-bioenergy-biofuel-provisions">released an initial draft of the 2026 Farm Bill</a> in mid-February. The legislation spans hundreds of pages and include language addressing a wide range of issues, including energy, forestry, nutrition and conservation.&nbsp;The Energy Title includes provisions increasing the maximum loan guarantee for the Rural Energy for America Program to $50 million and requires the USDA to consider the potential improvements to the financial condition of a REAP applicant when scoring applications.&nbsp;The legislation also includes language aimed at updating the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical and Biobased Product Manufacturing Program, which provides loan guarantees to support the development, construction and retrofitting of new and emerging advanced biofuel, renewable chemical and biobased products technologies. The draft legislation would reauthorize the program and expand eligibility for innovative biobased product manufacturing technologies and authorize the USDA to waive the requirement to demonstrate commercial viability for projects adopting commercially available technologies. The bill also aims to update the loan guarantee program’s application process by establishing a technology review agreement that outlines the specific objectives, outcomes and conditions by which the agency will determine a project is technically feasible.&nbsp;For sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the draft bill includes language affirming SAF as an advanced biofuel. It also calls on the USDA to establish an agency-wide strategy to advance the production of SAF by facilitating the collaboration between relevant USDA mission areas to encourage the advancement of the SAF supply chain, including utilization of agricultural crops growth for SAF production. The bill also directs USDA to identify opportunities to maximize SAF development, deployment and commercialization; leverage the capabilities of U.S. farmers, ranchers, foresters and producers to capture opportunities in the SAF market; support rural economic development through SAF production; and promote public-private partnerships for the development, deployment and commercialization of SAF.&nbsp;The legislation also aims to reauthorize and improve the BioPreferred Program by requiring the USDA to issue procurement guidance to federal agencies, implement more thorough reporting procedures for agency procurement and increasing procurement accountability and verification. In addition, the draft bill reauthorizes the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program and the Feedstock Flexibility Program and maintains authority for and investments in the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program.Also under the Energy Title, the bill directs relevant agencies to develop NAICS and NAPCS codes, establish a report to recommend bioeconomy-related changes for the 2027 NAICS and NAPCS codes revisions and assess the development of a national measurement of the economic contributions of the bioeconomy. It also provides the USDA with the authority to establish uniform labeling standards for bioproducts.The legislation would repeal the Biodiesel Fuel Education Program and the Carbon Utilization and Biogas Education Program.&nbsp;Biochar is addressed under both the Forestry Title and Research, Extension and Related Matters Title of the bill. One provision under the Research, Extension and related Matters Title aims to develop a Biochar Research Initiative in line with language included in the Biochar Research Network Act of 2025.&nbsp;Under the Forestry Title, the bill authorizes a biochar application demonstration project to facilitate the use of biochar, develop new biochar applications and support the commercialization of biochar.&nbsp;The Forestry Title also includes language that aims to reauthorize, rename and enhance the U.S. Forestry Service’s Community Wood Facilities Grant Program by increasing the maximum grant for a project, the maximum capacity of a community facility energy system, and the federal cost-share. In addition, the legislation would reauthorize and modernize the Wood Innovation Grant Program by reducing the non-federal match and authorizing grants for hauling hazardous fuels reduction materials to locations that can utilize it. &nbsp;Additional information, including a full copy of the draft Farm Bill, is available on the House Committee on Agriculture&nbsp;<a href="https://agriculture.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=8088">website</a>.&nbsp;

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The House Agriculture Committee on March 5 voted 34 to 17 to advance the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026, commonly known as the 2026 Farm Bill. The vote followed a two-day markup session that spanned roughly 25 hours. 

House Ag Committee advances 2026 Farm Bill

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