WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) delivered opening remarks at the House Agriculture Committee’s markup of the Farm Bill, emphasizing the shortcomings of the package to meaningfully address the challenges facing farmers and rural communities in the Midwest. Specifically, she highlighted the need to lower input costs, expand markets, modernize risk management tools, and invest in farm conservation programs, along with delivering relief from tariffs and SNAP cuts.
You can watch a livestream of the Farm Bill markup HERE, and find Budzinski’s opening remarks as prepared for delivery below:
Mr. Chairman, I want to be very clear at the outset of this markup: this conversation is bigger than the bill text in front of us today. It’s about whether we are serious about meeting the moment for American agriculture and rural communities — or whether we are simply checking a political box.
Midwestern farmers are the best in the world at what they do — they feed, fuel, and power this country every single day.
But right now, even the best are struggling because policy hasn’t kept up with reality — input costs are soaring, markets are tight, and farmers across the Midwest are saying the same thing: they don’t want ad hoc assistance, they want to take pride in their work and earn a living from what they grow — and this Farm Bill doesn’t get them there.
That is the heart of the issue.
Farmers in my district aren’t asking for handouts. They’re asking for functioning markets. They’re asking for fairness in input costs. They’re asking for risk management tools that reflect what they’re actually planting. They’re asking for conservation programs for producers that protect the land for the next generation. And they’re asking for research and innovation that keeps America competitive.
This bill does not rise to that challenge.
Instead of building a forward-looking, bipartisan Farm Bill in 2023 — when we had the opportunity to do it the right way — we are now debating what feels like the leftovers.
After so much was jammed into the Big Ugly Bill, we are left with a narrow proposal that fails to confront the real pressures facing farmers and families.
It does not meet the moment.
And it reflects a broader pattern.
This Farm Bill is a perfect example of how this majority in this Congress works — it ruptured the historic Farm Bill coalition by decimating SNAP, and now that they’ve broken it, they’re not even willing to acknowledge it needs to be fixed and negotiate with Democrats to find a viable path forward.
For decades, the strength of the Farm Bill has been its coalition — farmers and families, rural and urban, production agriculture and nutrition policy moving together.
That coalition wasn’t an accident. It was a recognition that agriculture policy and food policy are deeply connected. When you break that coalition for partisan gain, you weaken the entire bill.
What Republicans broke, they don’t even have the courage to fix.
And we’ve seen this partisan divide play out in real time.
Nationwide, year-round E15 was a perfect example of this — we walked right up to the finish line, with bipartisan support, with a common-sense solution that would expand markets, lower fuel costs, and strengthen rural economies — and instead of getting it done, leadership chose to punt.
That’s not governing. That’s avoiding hard choices.
Meanwhile, farmers are still dealing with fertilizer price volatility. They’re still dealing with seed and chemical costs that are far higher than they were just a few years ago. They’re still facing unpredictable export markets. And rural communities are still waiting for meaningful investment.
This bill is a vanity project. What should have been a bipartisan Farm Bill in 2023 is now an underperforming, partisan bill in 2026 so that Republicans can say they worked on a Farm Bill — without seriously grappling with whether it actually solves the problems in front of us.
I believe deeply in the Farm Bill. I believe in what it represents — stability, partnership, and a long-term commitment to rural America. But that means we have to be honest when we’re falling short.
While this Farm Bill misses the mark on helping our communities, we still have a chance to get it right.
If this Committee is serious — truly serious — about delivering for farmers, rural communities, and families, then now is the time to roll up our sleeves and fix these glaring issues.
That means negotiating. That means listening. That means putting politics aside and building something durable.
The farmers in my district don’t want soundbites. They don’t want performative votes. They want policy that works.
And they deserve nothing less. Thank you Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
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