Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota is working to advance key farm bill priorities for livestock producers, according to a report from American Ag Network.

The push comes as lawmakers continue negotiating the next farm bill, with livestock interests seeking stronger footing in the legislation. Details of the specific provisions Hoeven is backing were not included in the available report, and his office has not released full legislative text tied to the effort in that coverage.

Hoeven, a Republican who sits on the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee and has long positioned himself as an advocate for row-crop and ranching interests in his state, has repeatedly argued that livestock producers need expanded risk-management tools and disaster assistance on par with programs covering grain growers.

For ranchers, the timing matters. The next farm bill is more than a year overdue, with the 2018 legislation operating under extended authority while Congress negotiates a replacement. Producers have been managing through drought, volatile feed costs, and compressed margins in the interim, relying on ad hoc disaster packages rather than a permanent safety net.

The report did not specify which titles of the bill Hoeven is targeting, what funding levels he supports, or whether companion measures exist in the House. It also did not indicate a timeline for markup or floor action.

What is clear is the political frame: livestock groups have pressed for improvements to programs such as livestock disaster assistance and forage coverage in prior reauthorization cycles, and Senate Agriculture Committee members have signaled those items remain in play as negotiations continue.

Hoeven's office has not yet published the specific bill text or a cost estimate for the priorities under discussion, so producers should treat the announcement as a statement of intent rather than enacted policy. Watch for concrete legislative language, Congressional Budget Office scoring, and committee markup schedules to gauge whether the livestock provisions advance in the current negotiation window.