WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven issued the following statement after helping secure approval of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 agriculture funding legislation by the full Senate Appropriations Committee. As chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, Hoeven worked to ensure the legislation continues strong support for farm country, while finding $350 million in savings to help reduce the debt and deficit. Importantly, the legislation:
- Invests in agriculture research, including:
- Nearly $2.5 million for the Agricultural Risk Policy Center at North Dakota State University (NDSU), bring the total funding Hoeven has secured for this initiative to nearly $6.5 million since FY2024.
- $5 million for the AgTech Cooperative Agreement between Grand Farm, NDSU and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). This includes $2 million to establish an ARS work site at Grand Farm.
- $3 million for continued renovations at the Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center in Fargo.
- Helps ensure producer access to credit, providing sufficient funding to meet demand for the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) direct and guaranteed operating and ownership loans.
- Continues the prohibition on FSA county office closures.
- Give ranchers the necessary resources to comply with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) electronic identification (EID) tag requirement.
- This follows Hoeven’s efforts last year to secure an additional 3 million EID tags to prevent an unfunded mandate from being imposed on U.S. ranchers.
- Provides $500,000 for blackbird depredation in the Northern Great Plains.
- Empowers APHIS to protect the nation’s livestock against diseases, including avian influenza and chronic wasting disease (CWD), while supporting continued CWD research at ARS.
- Supports a more competitive and transparent cattle market by:
- Providing $1 million to continue Hoeven’s cattle contract library pilot program.
- Maintaining funding for the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act.
“Our farmers and ranchers provide the highest quality, lowest cost food supply in the world, and this legislation makes important investments to ensure they can continue this good work,” said Hoeven. “As chairman of Agriculture Appropriations, we made it a priority to support our nation’s producers with tools like better access to capital and funding to prevent damage from pests and diseases like the avian flu and chronic wasting disease. At the same time, we’re investing in agriculture research, including the important policy research and precision ag work being done by NDSU, Grand Farm and their partners. Ultimately, these efforts will help ensure stronger rural economies, a more secure food supply and the continued success of our farmers, ranchers and agri-businesses.”
