The American Farm Bureau Federation is pressing the U.S. Senate to pass a new farm bill, arguing that growers cannot wait another year for updated commodity support as input costs stay elevated and reference prices remain frozen at 2018 levels.

The organization's push follows House passage of its version of the legislation, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act, earlier in the session. Farm Bureau leaders have said repeatedly that the Senate Agriculture Committee needs to move its own text to a floor vote before the current one-year extension of the 2018 farm bill expires.

At stake for row-crop and livestock producers is a package that would raise statutory reference prices for the first time since the 2018 bill, expand crop insurance options, and maintain funding for commodity and conservation programs. Grower groups have framed the delay as a direct hit to farm margins: with fertilizer, fuel, seed and labor costs well above levels when the 2018 bill was written, the existing Price Loss Coverage triggers offer thin protection for corn, soybean, wheat and cotton producers.

Farm Bureau has also flagged trade-related stress as a reason for urgency. Losses in export markets over recent years have compounded the margin squeeze, and the group argues the farm bill's commodity title is one of the few tools available to stabilize producer revenue while longer-term trade demand recovers.

The legislative math rests with the Senate. Committee leaders have not yet released a final markup text that can attract the 60 votes needed to advance on the floor. Timing is tight: lawmakers face a compressed calendar, and each additional delay raises the odds of another short-term extension rather than a full five-year reauthorization.

Farm Bureau's position has been consistent across its state affiliates: pass a five-year bill this Congress, with higher reference prices and strengthened crop insurance at the core of the commodity title. The group has warned that a continuation of current law would lock in supports calibrated to a pre-2020 cost structure that no longer reflects what producers pay for inputs.

What comes next depends on Senate scheduling. If the chamber can bring a bill to the floor and reconcile it with the House version, growers would see updated PLC and Agriculture Risk Coverage parameters applied to upcoming crop years. If not, another extension would leave the 2018 framework in place — and leave producers budgeting for another season against support levels written for a cheaper input environment.