Harris Celebrates House Passage of the Farm Bill to Strengthen North Carolina Agriculture

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Mark Harris (NC-08) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, a modern Farm Bill that strengthens American agriculture, supports rural communities, protects taxpayers, and gives North Carolina farmers the tools they need to succeed:

"North Carolina farmers feed our families, fuel our economy, and keep rural communities strong," said Congressman Harris. "This Farm Bill gives them the certainty and tools they need to continue producing the abundant food supply American families depend on.

"American agriculture looks very different today than it did when the first Farm Bill was passed nearly a century ago, and the challenges facing our producers have changed with it. Farmers are facing rising costs, rapid changes in technology, foreign competition, and burdensome regulations that make it harder to stay in business. This bill meets those modern challenges by strengthening risk management tools, expanding access to credit, supporting precision agriculture, investing in research and innovation, and improving rural infrastructure.

"One of the most important ways we can support our farmers is by protecting them from harmful mandates that drive up costs and create uncertainty. I am especially proud that this Farm Bill protects North Carolina pork producers from California's disastrous Proposition 12. Families who have raised hogs for generations in our state should not be forced to follow one state's radical mandates just to sell their products across state lines. By including the Save Our Bacon Act, this bill restores certainty in the marketplace, protects interstate commerce, and stands up for North Carolina farmers.

"Beyond the farm gate, this legislation strengthens the rural communities that make American agriculture possible. It strengthens voluntary conservation programs, expands rural broadband, improves water and wastewater infrastructure in rural America, and prioritizes American agriculture on the global stage. These are practical policies that give our farmers and rural communities the tools they need to succeed for the next generation.

"Food security is national security, and protecting our food supply also means protecting taxpayers. This Farm Bill strengthens American agriculture while improving SNAP integrity, locking in savings, reducing waste, and making sure hardworking Americans' tax dollars support the American people - not Washington's bureaucracy. As a member of the House Committee on Agriculture, I am proud of our work to deliver for our farmers, strengthen rural America, protect taxpayers, and help secure America's food supply for generations to come."

BACKGROUND:

• The Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 provides certainty to farmers, ranchers, producers, and rural communities currently operating under the third consecutive extension of the 2018 Farm Bill.

• With 14 Democrats voting in favor, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 earned the strongest bipartisan support for any House farm bill since 2008. More than 96% of House Republicans backed the bill, marking the highest level of GOP support for a farm bill in modern history.

• The legislation makes locks in the agriculture-related provisions in the Working Families Tax Cuts including:
  • Commonsense reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that save taxpayers almost $200 billion over the next decade:
    • Requires states who fail to reduce their error rates to shoulder a share of the SNAP benefit costs beginning in Fiscal Year 2028.
    • Narrows eligibility for waivers from the work requirement to areas with high unemployment, reasserting Congressional intent.
    • Expands the Work Requirement for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents.
    • Restricts SNAP eligibility for illegal aliens.
  • The largest investment in American farmers in at least a generation:
    • Expands farm safety net investments for programs in Title I (Commodities) as well as Title XI (Crop Insurance).
    • Provides additional investment in the Specialty Crop Research Initiative and Specialty Crop Block Grants and doubles funding for export promotion programs.
    • Provides $125 million per year for the Agriculture Research Facilities Act and $1.5 billion over the next decade in livestock biosecurity programs.
      
• The Farm Bill includes the Save Our Bacon Act to stop California's Proposition 12 from controlling how North Carolina pork producers operate, protecting farmers from a patchwork of state-by-state regulations that drive up costs and threaten interstate commerce.
  
• The Farm Bill strengthens key risk management tools like crop insurance, promotes precision agriculture, supports specialty crop producers, and reinforces voluntary conservation programs that help farmers remain good stewards of their land while keeping their operations productive and viable.
  
• The Farm Bill modernizes rural development programs by strengthening critical infrastructure in rural communities, including broadband and water and wastewater systems, while making targeted investments in agricultural processing capacity to reduce supply chain bottlenecks and drive economic growth at the local level.
  

• The Farm Bill strengthens Buy American requirements, prioritizes American agriculture in the global marketplace, and adds stronger protections against foreign adversaries purchasing American agricultural land.

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