It’s an “interesting time” in Washington, D.C., says Kyle Garner, manager of congressional affairs for the National Pork Producers Council.
“Senate Republicans want a farm bill,” Garner says. “Senate Democrats want a farm bill, but they want specific things in a farm bill. In the Senate, you need 60 votes. I think there’s roughly 54 Republicans in the Senate, so they know with certainty they will rely on support from the other side of the aisle to get anything accomplished.”
The Senate Democrats are asking for changes to be made to the SNAP cost share requirement that was enacted through the One Big Beautiful Bill in July 2025.
“At NPPC, we don’t have policy on SNAP, but you have to recognize if that’s what it takes to get a farm bill passed, then you need to take that into consideration,” Garner explains. “It seems that Senate Ag Committee Chairman Boozman is not fond of addressing SNAP through the Senate version of the farm bill that he’s working on. This raises the question of the viability of a farm bill making it out the Senate. If you’re not willing to consider that, what’s the alternative?”
What is the Next Step to Get the Farm Bill Passed?
Garner says the next few months are critical for farm bill passage.
“The timeline we’ve been given says the text of the Senate farm bill will come out mid-June,” he says. “Then, a markup in the Senate Ag Committee will occur at the end of June or early July. I think the text is more realistic and will come out in June. I think a markup in the committee happening at the end of June is not as realistic. I think that will be further into July.”
He says the short time frame is a challenge with Congress taking a recess in August and October. That basically leaves June, July and September to get the work done.
“They need to work fast, and they know that,” Garner adds. “I think they’re committed to that, but they also know they need to get the votes, and that’s taking longer than expected.”
Although NPPC remains optimistic, Garner can’t deny the challenges that exist.
“Despite the fact that the Senate chairman has expressed publicly that Prop 12 won’t be in there, we are trying to change his mind on that,” Garner says. “Regardless, there is still an opportunity to get it addressed through a farm bill. If the Senate passes it and it’s not included, then their version will be different than the House’s version. That means the next step would be the House and the Senate going into conference to reconcile the differences between their two bills.”
A Patchwork of Regulations Won’t Work
With some states considering similar legislation to California’s Prop 12, he says getting a fix in the farm bill is critical. For example, animal extremist groups in Oklahoma are pushing a ballot initiative that would be similar to Prop 12, but would require a different amount of square footage.
“The ability to comply with all these states’ laws is difficult, and it’s a costly measure for a producer,” Garner says. “It creates inconsistency. We have producers that have converted to comply with Prop 12, but then they would be out of compliance to access Oklahoma’s market should that ballot measure pass.”
He says the biggest concern is a 50-state patchwork of regulations.
“That leads to a point where the pork industry continues to suffer, and we could see a day where pork isn’t on the tables of American families,” Garner says. “We see Congress wanting to address the patchwork of regulations in other spaces such as AI, cybersecurity and kids’ online safety where states have different laws in those spaces. Congress wants to bring some solution to that.”
Although it’s pork today, he says it could be beef or dairy tomorrow.
“Not every state has a huge pork presence,” he says. “A lot of states consume pork, but not every state has huge numbers in production.”
The No. 1 thing he wants pork producers to hear is the importance of their voice.
“I meet with their staff on a daily basis, but there is nothing that resonates more with them than the voice of a producer, the voice of a constituent,” Garner says. “We need and rely heavily on producers to get involved and use their voice to spread that message. That’s how we can get this farm bill accomplished.”
