'Poison pills': Environmentalists, lawmakers criticize the 2026 farm bill

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – Democrats and environmentalists are sounding the alarm over the recently-released farm bill, which includes deregulatory and pro-industry provisions supported by the Trump administration.

The draft Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 scales back regulatory hurdles for pesticide manufacturers, restricts federal funding for certain solar “farm” projects, and gives the U.S. Department of Agriculture more control over international food assistance. 

Congress is under pressure to pass a farm bill, which it is supposed to do every five years but has not since 2018. Although the majority of the draft’s content is bipartisan, it has received pushback for proposed changes that critics say will reverse environmental progress and shield large corporations from public accountability.

One of the most controversial measures would give the Environmental Protection Agency the sole authority to approve national pesticide labeling requirements, including any warnings about potential product risks. 

Additionally, pesticide manufacturers would be immune from lawsuits alleging they failed to adequately communicate potential harms linked to their product, so long as the product label fit EPA standards.

The Center for Biological Diversity has called the bill a “monstrosity” that would “allow foreign-owned pesticide conglomerates to dominate the policies that impact the safety of the food every American eats.”

“This Republican Farm Bill proposal is a grotesque, record-breaking giveaway to the pesticide industry that will free Big Ag to accelerate the flow of dangerous poisons into our nation's food supply and waterways," Brett Hartl, the organization’s government affairs director, told The Center Square.

“This bill would block people suffering from pesticide-linked cancers from suing pesticide makers, eviscerate the EPA's ability to protect rivers and streams from direct pesticide pollution, and give the pesticide industry an unprecedented veto over extinction-preventing safeguards for our nation's most endangered wildlife,” Hartl added.

Supporters argue the measure will boost the competitiveness of America’s agricultural sector, provide regulatory certainty, and shield corporations from "frivolous" lawsuits.

CropLife America, which represents the nation’s pesticide industry, did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment in time for publication.

Democratic lawmakers have condemned other parts of the farm bill as well, such as a restriction on federal funding of solar projects located on forest or prime farmland. 

The legislation also transfers authority to administrate the Food for Peace program from the U.S. Agency for International Development to the USDA, a move Democrats and other critics say could endanger the program's efficiency and effectiveness.

With partisanship running high in Congress, it is unclear if enough Democrats will support the 802-page bill, which authorizes funds for crop insurance, disaster assistance, risk management, farm loans, rural energy grants, forest management, and hundreds of other critical bipartisan initiatives.

House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Angi Craig, D-Minn., described the legislation as "a shell of a farm bill with poison pills that complicates if not derails chances of getting anything done."

The committee will mark up the bill next week, where Democrats will likely introduce amendments to strip parts of the bill they dislike. Republicans need at least seven Senate Democrats to vote for the bill for it to reach the president’s desk.