September 22, 2026

Contents

• What We’re Watching
• Notable News
• This Week’s Legislation
• Upcoming Hearings
• Contact the Team

What We’re Watching

Congress 

Farm Bill 

Following the August 6 Senate farm bill markup, the Senate Agriculture Committee held a business meeting last week to vote on the bill. With Senator Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) return to Capitol Hill last week after his absence since June, the Senate Agriculture Committee Republicans were able to pass the 2026 Farm Bill out of committee with a partisan 12-11 vote. Senate Republicans will likely begin working with the House to “pre-conference” the Bill, aiming to tack it onto a moving package at the end of the year. The SNAP cost-share delay continues to be a point of contention hindering Democratic support for the package. 

House Agriculture Hearing on Domestic Agricultural Products 

The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on Wednesday September 16 titled “Increasing Demand and Opportunities for Homegrown Products Here and Abroad.” The discussion focused heavily on expanding domestic and export demand, addressing farm profitability challenges, and the role of federal programs in supporting producers. Other topics the Committee focused on included biofuels and the bioeconomy, agricultural labor and modernizing the H-2A visa program, trade and tariff concerns, and economic assistance for specialty crop farmers. The full livestream can be found here.  

House Democrats Write Letter on Closure of BARC Research 

Last week, Democratic Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Steny Hoyer (MD-05), Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), and Glenn Ivey (MD-04), along with Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) sent a letter to USDA requesting information about the Department’s plans to terminate research around Cyclospora and plans to close the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). Questions were asked around the reorganization, current efforts to study Cyclospora at BARC, whether the reorganization will affect BARC research, and food safety concerns.   

House Energy and Commerce Passes Recycling Legislation 

The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup last week to consider and vote on a series of legislation including the Packaging and Claims Knowledge (PACK) Act and the Recycled Materials Attribution Act (RMAA). Both bills passed out of the Committee where they now can be moved to the House floor when the House returns. 

The PACK Act, introduced by Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) would establish a uniform federal framework governing recyclable, compostable, and reusable claims on consumer product packaging and preempt the state patchwork of requirements. The RMAA, introduced by Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY), would establish federal standards for recycling and recycled content marketing claims, while also directing the Federal Trade Commission to update the Green Guides to align with the legislation.  

Administration

USDA Ends ESG Commitments for Dairy Checkoff Program 

Last week, USDA Secretary Rollins announced that dairy checkoff funding will no longer be used for Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) regulations under the Trump administration’s plan to deregulate programs that support ESG. The announcement also directs the Agricultural Marketing Service to ensure no research or promotion funds in other commodity checkoff programs advance ESG mandates, and AMS will work with the Boards to determine which projects include ESG and modify contracts to comply with this order. The letter written to the National Dairy Board Chair can be found here, and the official memorandum can be found here.  

USDA Launches AgInsights Dashboard 

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) launched its new AgInsights webpage, that compiles data into a dashboard for producers. The page includes interactive data views, modernization of the technology used, features to sort and filter data, and uses the Quick Stats database.  

USDA Opens Public Comments for SNAP Waivers  

On Tuesday, September 15, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration (FNS) published Federal Register requests for public comment on each state SNAP restrictions pilot program. This is an effort by the Administration to address part of the judge’s findings of administrative procedure violations in the Aragon v. Rollins case. Each notice requests information on the respective state’s implementation and operation of the waiver, and comments are due within 30 days (by October 15, 2026). The states that have open comment periods include: Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.  

FDA Announces End to Cyclospora Outbreak 

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Dieses Control (CDC) have officially announced that the cyclospora outbreak from iceberg lettuce has ended, as contaminated products have been entirely removed from the market. The FDA is looking into post-outbreak responses, as well as investigating how the contaminated products made their way into the food supply chain in states across the U.S.   

Notable News

• Democratic Representative to Launch a ‘Fix Our Food Caucus’ – Civil Eats 
• Senators question Trump’s picks for top health positions, including surgeon general – NPR 
• Driscoll’s Gave China Its Blueberries—Then China Swiped the Secret to Growing Them – Wall Street Journal 
• Most US Trading Partners Will Fail to Fulfill Agricultural Purchasing Commitments – Capstone 
• Rollins Rolls Out New Biofuels Strategy to Expand Ethanol Exports and Grow Renewable Energy Markets – Brownfield Ag News 
• USDA Trade Chief Luke Lindberg Selected to Lead UN World Food Program – AgroLatam 
• NYC, other cities fight Trump rule weighing immigrants’ benefits – Axios 
• Battleground Voters Continue to Back AFIT’s National Ingredient Standard – P2 Insights 

This Week’s Legislation

• Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO) introduced H.R. 10411 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to consider certain acreage not planted due to a lack of irrigation water to be eligible for prevented planting payments. 
• Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) introduced the Integrated Local, Regional, and Interregional Transmission Planning Act to direct FERC to require transmission planning regions to integrate and improve their planning processes for interregional, regional, and certain local transmission facilities. 
• Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) introduced the Public Lands Accountability Act to prevent a federal agency from amending any existing right-of-way permits on BLM land to allow the construction of a data center without going through a new environmental permitting process.  
• Rep. Suzanne Bonamici introduced a resolution to designate the week of September 14 through September 18, 2026, as “Malnutrition Awareness Week”. 

Upcoming Hearings

Wednesday, September 23  

• 3:30 PM: Senate Aging Committee will hold a hearing on “Leveling the Playing Field: Restoring America’s Edge in Generic Drug Manufacturing”  

Thursday, September 24 

• 10:30 AM: The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of Dr. Heidi Overton to be the Commissioner of Food and Drugs. 

Contact the Team

Feel free to contact Michael Torrey, Tara Smith, Cassandra Kuball, Barbara Patterson, Katie Naessens, Julie McClure, Nona McCoy, Danielle Nelson, Ashley Smith, Olivia Lucanie, Caroline Sowinski, Eden Lambert, Tracy Boyle, or James Knupp with any questions or comments.

Food and agricultural organizations that need the right results in Washington, D.C. can trust Torrey Advisory Group to put its relationships, reputation, and expertise to work on your issue. Since 2005, the firm has successfully provided legislative and regulatory guidance, issues management, and association management services to a wide variety of clients. Learn more about us at torreydc.com.