ADVOCACY REPORT
Federal State of Play Farm Bill authorizations and programs not included in the July One Big Beautiful Bill Act reported on in the previous Almond Facts edition were set to expire September 30, 2025. While conversations continued in the House and Senate, with the failure of Congress to finalize a plan to fund the U.S. government by the end of the current fiscal year, the government began its longest shut down in history on October 1, 2025. After 43 days of significant disruption to federal programs, Congress managed to pass a bill that fully funded three government agencies for the 2026 fiscal year and extended funding for the remaining agencies at current levels through January 30, setting up the potential for another shutdown early this year. Fortunately, USDA was one of the three agencies to receive full-year funding. In the FY26 appropriations bill, signed into law November 12, 2025, USDA received $26.65 billion in authorized funding, essentially the same level as in FY25 and $3.65 billion more than requested in the FY26 President’s Budget Request. The bill also extended remaining Farm Bill authorizations and programs through September 30, 2026, given the lack of progress on a new Farm Bill. As a result, the Market Access Program will maintain its $200 million level funding for 2026 as efforts continue to double its authorization in the Farm Bill. House Ag Committee Chair GT Thompson has announced his intent to move a bill early this session while efforts for Senate action remain unclear. In December, the President along with Secretary Rollins, announced a $12 billion Farmer Bridge Assistance Program (FBA) to provide economic assistance to the hard-hit industry. $11 billion will be allocated to row crop commodities by the end of February based on a per- acre calculation of economic harm. The remaining $1 billion has been set aside for all other industry sectors, including specialty crops, with no timeline or criteria for
allocation announced yet. Efforts continue to expand funding assistance to specialty crop producers. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, recently announced five new priority areas for USDA research and development programs for 2026: increasing profitability of farmers and ranchers, expanding new markets and uses for agricultural products, prevention and eradication of invasive species, preserving soil health and productivity and precision nutrition for food health. Congress began its second session the first week of January with many of the same challenges it faced last session. Government funding took priority in light of their January 30 deadline. Mid-term elections will loom large with many state’s primaries beginning in March. Also, the House Republicans will have an even smaller majority since the death of California congressman, Doug LaMalfa, and the departure of Congresswoman Greene. This leaves a mere two-vote cushion. Trade State of Play Uncertainty around tariff implementation, reciprocal action and impact on our growers continues. The Administration announced a trade deal with the EU in July with few details available at the time, but with additional details released in the fall. Also in the fall, trade deal frameworks were announced with Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Korea. Julie Callahan was Senate approved and sworn in as Chief Agriculture Negotiator for USTR in December while USTR was beginning its process of soliciting public input prior to the July 1 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement review deadline. Alicia Rockwell of Blue Diamond testified at the first USTR public hearing on December 3, offering recommendations for the continuation of the treaty’s beneficial provisions. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a “writ for cert” and heard oral
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ALMOND FACTS
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