Dear friends and colleagues,

This quarter brought major movement on federal farm legislation with direct implications for soil health.

As most of you know, on April 30, the House passed its version of the 2026 Farm Bill, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567). The Senate followed on June 23 with the release of a discussion draft of its Farm Bill, the Agricultural Act of 2026, ahead of an expected committee markup later this month. The Senate draft includes several provisions of note for soil health. Most notably in the Conservation Title, it reauthorizes the Conservation Reserve Program through 2031 with a higher acreage cap and increased payment limitation, raises Agricultural Conservation Easement Program cost-share rates, and establishes a new State Conservation Assistance Program, alongside updates to EQIP and the Conservation Stewardship Program. Stay tuned for Land Core’s analysis in a forthcoming blog post.

Separately, the House passed the Fiscal Year 2027 Agriculture, Rural Development, and FDA Appropriations Act (H.R. 8646) in early June. As part of this bill, we’re happy to share that language was included in the Committee Report accompanying H.R.8646, directing a study on the risk reduction associated with soil health practices and a report on potential policy changes for actuarially sound discounts or incentives across all relevant commodity crop insurance policies. See the language, championed by the Land Core team, in the Committee Report here. We're still waiting on the Senate's draft and markup of their version before we know how the final agriculture appropriations bill will shape up.

Together, these developments mark progress toward a new Farm Bill, although the road ahead to becoming law remains uncertain, especially regarding gaining sufficient bipartisan votes in the Senate.

Among the many marker bills introduced this quarter for the Farm Bill, specialty crop policy was a major focus for Democrats, with five bills addressing the sector across disaster assistance, crop insurance access, mechanization research, and market access. The volume of specialty crop legislation reflects interest in addressing the gaps in federal support for the sector, which commodity-focused programs have historically underserved. The two bipartisan FIFRA bills introduced this quarter, the Paraquat Prevention Act (H.R.9357) and the People Over Poison Act (H.R.9528), also reflect a growing momentum around pesticide health and safety concerns that are increasingly cutting across traditional agricultural policy and partisan lines.

Below, you'll find our usual breakdown of newly introduced and reintroduced bills, movement on tracked legislation, and other highlights from this quarter.

Without further ado, here’s your update on soil health legislation in the U.S. Congress from the Land Core Bill Tracker.

Warmly,

The Land Core Team

Sign up to get these updates directly in your inbox. Have a colleague interested in agriculture who might appreciate our non-partisan, educational legislative resources? Please share this alert and the Land Core Bill Tracker with them.

Please consider supporting Land Core's bill tracker with a donation.

This resource takes significant staff time each quarter to research, verify, and summarize, and we provide it free of charge to farmers, policy staff, researchers, and advocates. If you find this tracker valuable, a donation helps us keep this free, nonpartisan resource going for the soil health community.

Donate to Land Core

Bill Tracker by the Numbers: 119th Congress

This alert mostly tracks bills introduced from April to July 2026. A total of 39 bills were introduced that relate to or could impact soil health during that period.

Importance to Soil Health: Core or Secondary

Core: 10
Secondary: 29

Party Support

Bipartisan: 17
Democrat Only: 17
Republican Only: 5

Chamber

House Only: 13
Senate Only: 14
Bicameral: 12

Core Soil Health Bills

Bipartisan Bills - NEWLY INTRODUCED

Below are 2 newly-introduced CORE bipartisan bills that would directly impact soil health.

H.R.9346 - USDA Field Office Stability Act

Sponsor: Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS-3) (2 Cosponsors)
Summary: This bill would prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from closing or relocating county or field offices of NRCS, FSA, Rural Development areas, or county service centers. Exceptions would apply for offices within 20 miles of another office in the same state, or relocations within the same county. The bill would also require the Secretary to maintain staffing levels sufficient to keep all local service centers open and accessible.

H.R.9357 - Paraquat Prevention Act

Sponsor: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13) (1 Cosponsor)
Summary: This bill would cancel the registration of all uses of the pesticide paraquat. It would direct the EPA to revoke any existing tolerances or exemptions that permit paraquat residues in food and would prohibit the sale or use of existing stocks. Additionally, this bill would prevent the EPA from reregistering paraquat in the future.

Bipartisan Bills - REINTRODUCED

Below are 2 reintroduced CORE bipartisan bills that would directly impact soil health.

S.4725/H.R.9217 - Natural Climate Solutions Research and Extension Act of 2026

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) (4 Cosponsors - the Senate bill is Democrat-only)
House Sponsor: Rep. Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-2) (1 Cosponsor)
Summary: This bill would authorize high-priority research and extension grants for natural climate solutions. Such grants could support land management practices that store carbon or reduce greenhouse gas emissions across agricultural lands and soils.

S.4811 - Tribal Conservation Priorities Inclusion Act

Senate Sponsor: Sen. Gary C. Peters (D-MI) (1 Cosponsor)
Summary: This bill would explicitly include Indian Tribes in provisions related to priority resource concerns across several USDA conservation programs. Specifically, it would add Tribal considerations to the definitions of priority resource concerns within EQIP, CSP, and critical conservation areas under the RCPP.

Single Party Support

Below are an additional 5 CORE bills with single-party support that would directly impact soil health.

Democrat

H.R.8533 - Farmer to Farmer Education Act of 2026

Sponsor: Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM-2) (1 Cosponsor)

H.R.8390 - National Food as Medicine Program Act of 2026

Sponsor: Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA-25) (1 Cosponsor)

S.4867 - Small Farm Conservation Act

Sponsor: Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-CO) (11 Cosponsors)

Republican

H.R.8646 - Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2027

Sponsor: Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD-1)

S.4851 - Supporting Conservation through Advancing Local Efforts (SCALE) Act of 2026

Sponsor: Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND)

Secondary Bills

Below are 18 new bills, and 9 reintroduced bills, that would indirectly impact soil health.

New:

H.R.8457 - Homegrown Fertilizer Act - Bipartisan
S.4651 - Increasing Insurance Access for Specialty Crops Act - Democrat
S.4652 - Advancing Automation Research and Development in Agriculture Act - Democrat
S.4654 - Expanding Market Access Act - Democrat Only
S.4627 - Fostering Agricultural Research and Modernization through Artificial Intelligence (FARM AI) Act of 2026 - Bipartisan
S.4483/H.R.8424 - Promoting Access to Local Agriculture Act of 2026 - Democrat/Bipartisan
H.R.8578 - Food Reform for Effective and Sustainable Health (FRESH) Act of 2026 - Republican
H.R.8446 - Family Farm Transition Act of 2026 - Democrat
H.R.8374 - Equal Treatment for Farmers Act - Republican
H.R.8104 - Fertilizer Transparency Act of 2026 - Bipartisan
S.4661 - Ensuring Disaster Recovery and Resilience for Specialty Crops Act - Democrat
S.4842 - American Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act - Bipartisan
S.4841 - Fresh Produce for Families Act of 2026 - Bipartisan
S.4860 - Cultivating Horticultural Innovation in Local Economies (CHILE) Act of 2026
H.R.9528 - People Over Poison Act
H.R.9474 - Local Foods for Healthy Schools Act of 2026
H.R.9423 - Organic Imports Verification Act of 2026
S.4866 - Farmers’ Market Local Revitalization Act of 2026

Reintroduced:

S.4655 - Farm Credit Adjustment Act - Bipartisan
S.4470 - Supporting Urban and Innovative Farming Act of 2026 - Democrat
S.4391/H.R.8531 - Farmland for Farmers Act of 2026 - Democrat
H.R.8507 - Precision Agriculture Workforce Training and Development Act - Bipartisan
H.R.8502 - Heirs’ Agricultural Resources, Viability, Education, and Succession Transfer (HARVEST) Act - Democrat
H.R.8472 - Support for Ownership and Investment in Land Act of 2026 - Republican
S.4347 - America Grows Act of 2026 - Bipartisan
S.4730 - Community College Agriculture Advancement Act of 2026 - Bipartisan
S.4848 - Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2026 - Democrat

Most Active Legislators

Congressional members across the aisle introduced legislation that could impact soil health from April through July 2026. The most active legislators in this period were Sen. Adam Schiff with six introductions and Sens. Tina Smith and Michael Bennet with two.

Bill Progression

Several bills that Land Core tracks have advanced through Congress on their path to becoming law. The House Farm Bill (H.R. 7567 - Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026) passed the House on April 30 by a vote of 224-200. The FY27 Ag-Appropriations spending bill (H.R.8646 - the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2027) passed the House on June 4 by a vote of 213-210. The Emergency Conservation Program Improvement Act of 2025, a bill that improves access to funds for producers affected by disasters (S.629), which previously passed the Senate on March 24, passed the House on June 23 and now heads to the President’s desk.

View the Bill Tracker!

Bill tracker alerts summarize updates to our soil health federal bill tracker. View this update (including links to each individual bill) on our website.

Let us know if there is a bill of interest that we have not added.

Share these alerts with a friend or colleague, explore the archive, and sign up to get these updates directly in your inbox.

Land Core is a 501(c)3 organization that works closely with the USDA, legislators, producers, scientists, NGOs and financial institutions across the country to develop policy recommendations that build healthy soils, resilient farmers and national food security. This includes guiding the successful passage of language in both the House and Senate supporting soil health outcomes at the USDA and helping to secure over $50M in federal investment in Soil Health in the 2018 Farm Bill.

Resources: The Land Core Soil Health Bill Tracker is a comprehensive tool designed to monitor and analyze legislation related to soil health and resilience. It can be used to support bills that align with the priorities of strengthening American agriculture, promoting energy independence, and revitalizing rural communities.

Contact: Aria McLauchlan, Co-Founder & Executive Director, aria@landcore.org

Soil Health Federal Bill Tracker Alert - July 2026