By Clint Thompson
The specialty crop industry scored a recent victory when the House of Representatives approved H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026. The Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance (SCFBA) is now putting the full-court press on the Senate to pass the farm bill as well.
Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council and co-chair of the SCFBA, discussed the next step in the farm bill’s progression in becoming a much-needed reality.
“I think the leadership of both the House and Senate Ag Committees feel the imperative of getting a farm bill done and providing that certainty to producers,” Quarles said. “Both chambers have their own politics and their own issues, so it will be a different process in the Senate. I think certainly they share that goal of getting a bill enacted into law.
“We’re several years passed the expiration of the 2018 farm bill. They’re all feeling that pressure to modernize U.S. farm policies so we can compete on a global level.”
Farm Crisis
Farmers are in need of a modernized farm bill that will help them remain sustainable. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), there have been 18,470,000 acres of farmland and 127,600 farms lost in the last five years. There is one farmer for every 169 Americans today, compared to one farmer for every 75 Americans in 1980. An updated farm bill would provide assistance to growers in the middle of what Quarles calls a “farm crisis.”
“The House bill contained a provision that’s incredibly important. It’s telling USDA how to deliver economic relief to the specialty crop industry,” Quarles said. “It calls that debate to a close and says that this is the program, this is the mechanism by which you make sure the family farms can stay in business when they get hit with a horrible set of economic circumstances like we’re facing right now. We want the Senate to do that same thing and make sure that all of these great things for farm policy that may materialize in the future, we want to make sure that all of our family farms are in business to see that better future.”
The farm bill is a piece of legislation that is renewed every five years. President Trump signed the current farm bill into law on Dec. 20, 2018.
The SCFBA is co-chaired by Cathy Burns, CEO of the International Fresh Produce Association; Mike Joyner, President of the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association; Dave Puglia, President and CEO of Western Growers; and Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council.