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Harvest season is underway across Mississippi, and while farmers are focused on bringing this year's crop out of the field, there's an equally important story developing in Washington that every landowner should be following.
Congress has not yet enacted a new five-year Farm Bill, and the latest extension of the 2018 Farm Bill expired September 30. However, meaningful progress has been made in recent weeks. On September 16, the Senate Agriculture Committee voted 12–11 to advance the Agricultural Act of 2026 — commonly referred to as "Farm Bill 2.0," formally designated S. 5526 — and placed it on the Senate legislative calendar. The House passed its own version earlier this year.
Getting the bill out of committee was an important step, but significant work remains. Senate leadership has indicated that the immediate focus will be on reconciling differences between the House and Senate versions. Any final legislation will require 60 votes to advance in the Senate, and with the November elections approaching, final passage may extend beyond the election.
For landowners, the most important near-term takeaway is this: the expiration of the 2018 Farm Bill extension does not mean the programs you rely on have stopped. Congress addressed many of these separately through legislation enacted in 2025. Major NRCS conservation programs — including EQIP, CSP, ACEP, and RCPP — carry funding and authorization through fiscal year 2031, and several agricultural safety-net programs received similarly extended authorization. As a practical matter, October 1 is the current FY2027 application ranking date in Mississippi for EQIP, CSP, and ACEP, confirming that these programs are fully operational into the new fiscal year.
Congress is closer to a new Farm Bill than it has been in some time, but the outcome will depend on whether lawmakers can reach the bipartisan agreement needed for final passage. Sartain's Heritage Properties will continue to monitor developments, with particular attention to provisions affecting forestry, conservation, agriculture, and private landowners across Mississippi and the Southeast.
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