Dive Brief:
- The House Agriculture Committee last week passed its markup of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026. The farm bill sets funding levels for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including several programs that affect federal food waste reduction efforts and provide support for biofuels production.
- The draft instructs USDA to provide research funding for food loss and waste. It also tasks the food loss and waste reduction liaison, a position that coordinates with other federal agencies, with creating an annual report, among other provisions.
- The bill would also expand funding for certain kinds of biogas projects and allow anaerobic digesters to receive funding under the Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreements program created by the last farm bill. That program is authorized to disburse $25 million annually and has supported more than 100 projects to date.
Dive Insight:
This is the third year lawmakers have attempted to pass a farm bill after the last one expired in 2023. Since then, they have repeatedly passed one-year stopgap measures to fund the USDA. Farm bills typically set the agency's budget for five years, and this year's attempt would be effective through fiscal year 2031.
The new bill largely supports food waste initiatives that began when the last full farm bill passed in 2018. It would make permanent the Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreements program, which was described as a pilot in the previous farm bill. It would maintain funding levels and make food waste-to-energy projects eligible for inclusion in the program, including anaerobic digestion facilities.
That last provision received praise from the American Biogas Council, which urged passage of “a modernized Farm Bill that delivers durable policy certainty and long-term opportunity for rural America.”
The bill would also require the food loss and waste reduction liaison, a position created in the 2018 farm bill, to submit to Congress an annual report on their activities. The report would include a summary of cooperative agreements the liaison made with research or educational partners and of coordinated activities with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration, which are partner agencies in food loss and waste reduction activities.
The bill does not envision expanding the liaison's position into an office with additional staff, for which the Zero Food Waste Coalition has previously advocated.
For research priorities, the bill includes instructions to study microplastic and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances on farmland. The agency would explore techniques in wastewater treatment and composting to filter the substances from biosolids.
The bill also includes language for research on food loss and waste thanks to an amendment backed by Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, and Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., who co-lead the Congressional Food Recovery Caucus. Their amendment received support from House Agriculture Chair Glenn Thompson, R-Penn., earning key support for a bipartisan provision, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The bill also includes several provisions to fund development of cold chain storage, ensuring less waste across the food supply chain.
Biogas provisions included in the bill would largely support USDA programs meant to boost the market. The bill would raise the maximum loan guarantee amount through the Rural Energy for America Program from $25 million to $50 million and instruct the secretary to ensure it funds a diverse range of project types, among other tweaks.
Geoffrey Dietz, senior director of federal government affairs for the RNG Coalition, said in a statement that the bill’s support for biofuels is “critically important” for the industry “at a time of heightened volatility in fuel markets and given the many challenges facing U.S. farmers.”
“By supporting RNG production from manure methane capture, these programs create new and stable revenue streams for livestock farmers that can help offset rising input and energy costs while also strengthening domestic fuel supply,” Dietz said.
The farm bill will face several hurdles before final passage as lawmakers continue to debate other priorities like a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The committee markup received seven yea votes from Democrats, but the party may seek additional nutrition program funding in the bill. Republicans hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate.
Thompson said he expected the bill to be debated on the House floor in the coming weeks in a statement following the bill’s passage through committee.
”Throughout this markup, it became clearer than ever before that our country needs a new farm bill, and we don’t need it next year, or next Congress. We need it now,” he said.
