ABC Looks to the Senate for a Better Farm Bill for Birds

With a drop of the gavel, the House Agriculture Committee passed one of the largest bills the U.S. Congress handles: the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567). Better known as the Farm Bill, this massive piece of legislation is a vehicle for programs ranging from habitat improvement and field biologists to community nutrition programs and crop insurance. This Farm Bill has been a long time coming: A new iteration is usually passed every five years due to its size and complexity. Despite short-term extensions and additional debate, Congressional gridlock and competing priorities resulted in this Farm Bill being more than three years overdue. The House of Representatives has passed a Farm Bill, but there’s more work to be done to ensure the Farm Bill works for birds.

American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and other conservation organizations are now looking to the Senate to pass a Farm Bill that funds critically important conservation programs and advances policies and practices that address the conservation needs of birds and the habitats and ecosystems they rely on. We are hopeful that the Senate’s version, expected soon, will do more to fulfill these promises than the House bill, but ABC, our partners, and our supporters did secure some wins for birds and struck major blows to provisions that threaten them.

The base text — the “first draft” of legislation that is introduced for consideration by Congressional committees, individual Members of Congress, and the entire legislative body — of H.R. 7567 contained some worrying provisions. As first drafts, base texts can be changed through amendments, rewrites, and conference committees, and, as the bill advances, ABC will continue to advocate for the most concerning elements of the House’s version of the Farm Bill to be addressed.

We were particularly concerned about massive cuts to critical voluntary conservation incentive programs administered through the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). These NRCS programs provide support for growers, ranchers, and forest owners looking to make their working lands more environmentally friendly while still remaining productive. The original House version included reduced funding for the Conservation Reserve Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, and Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which could eliminate a vital link connecting conservation to private and working lands across the U.S.

Perhaps the most alarming provision in the base text is the cut to Conservation Technical Assistance (CTA), the boots-on-the-ground people who guide producers and partnering organizations like ABC in the process of applying for funding to carry out conservation work. CTA officials also can act as a matchmaker between landowners and available conservation programs, provide expertise on how to implement conservation practices, and build decades-long partnerships with scientific organizations that lead to lasting habitat enhancements for birds and other wildlife. Losing this support will have major consequences.

The base text of H.R. 7567 also increases logging in National Forests and expands categorical exclusions that allow federal agencies and partners to conduct environmental impact analyses before projects begin. Active gestión forestal can be an important approach to restoring and conserving forest habitat when it is backed by science, but these additional categorical exclusions and harvest mandates calling for increased unsustainable logging risk depleted habitat and declining bird populations.

Finally, the bill has several provisions that reduce pesticida oversight and regulation across the country. Language in Title X, Section C would prevent states, counties, and towns from implementing pesticide safeguards to protect themselves and their wildlife from harmful chemicals when federal safeguards fall short. Additional language would also unnecessarily extend timelines for the Environmental Protection Agency to comply with the Ley de Especies en Peligro de Extinción and make it harder for pesticide registrations to incorporate environmental safeguards derived from laws like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act.

The House’s Farm Bill creates a new Forest Conservation Easement Program (FCEP) designed to conserve working forests, reduce forest fragmentation, support habitat restoration, and prioritize endangered or vulnerable wildlife species. FCEP would be open to states, Tribes, nongovernment organizations, and landowners looking for financial support to retain or restore forestland and prevent conversion of these forests for other uses. By adding significant protections to enrolled private forestlands, FCEP offers broad and voluntary protections to myriad resident and migratory bird species and their habitats.  

An urban forestry grant program would also be established to encourage tree planting in urban areas. Urban forests provide important habitat for migrating and resident birds while also lowering energy bills and overall temperatures in urban communities. ABC would like to see this effort focus on native and regionally appropriate species to maximize the benefits to wildlife.

Members of the House of Representatives are given a chance to offer amendments on large legislation like the Farm Bill, ensuring that all represented people get a chance to have their voices heard. Nearly 350 amendments were submitted to the Rules Committee for H.R. 7567, and of those over 100 received consideration and additional debate.

ABC was glad to see the amendment process at work to improve the bill. One of the most talked-about provisions on the national stage was Amendment #29. This amendment would neutralize the legislation’s attempts to restrict states, counties, and cities from regulating pesticides by striking sections 10205, 10206, and 10207 from the base text, freeing communities to protect their residents and wildlife. The widely bipartisan amendment received 280 votes in favor, reflecting a country and a Congress that recognize the threats posed by toxic pesticides to wildlife, ecosystems, and people. This huge win for birds was made possible thanks to ABC and its supporters working alongside dozens of other national groups representing millions of engaged Americans.

An amendment to allow for continuous enrollment of lands under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) initiative was also added to the final bill in the House. This innovative program incentivizes states and landowners to work with conservation groups like ABC to restore habitat for high-priority wildlife species. Another positive amendment supports the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s peer-to-peer farmer networking, allowing landowners to learn from each other in matters of innovative farming and ranching practices that bolster conservation outcomes.

We now await the Senate’s version of the Farm Bill. It’s expected to include many of the same provisions, but ABC is hopeful it will not contain the massive cuts to NRCS funding, allowances for unsustainable logging in National Forests, and harmful pesticide provisions. ABC and our partners will be working to express our concerns and ideas to lawmakers and ensure that a bipartisan bill to support both birds and producers makes it into law.

Policy work has been described as the “slow boring of hard boards,” meaning that change comes incrementally slowly and over a long time. With a decline of 3 billion birds since 1970, flailing forest species, increased threats from toxic chemicals, and grassland habitat in desperate need of new solutions, we have no time to waste.