• Updating limits on USDA Farm Service Agency loans and expanded access for beginning, young, veteran and new producers.
• Protection of states’ rights to produce livestock without being subject to regulations imposed by other states, effectively addressing California Proposition 12 concerns.
• Codifying reforms to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans( DGAs) process and tailoring SNAP incentives to prioritize unprocessed foods and animal protein in alignment with the 2025-2030 DGAs.
• Creation of a pilot program allowing custom-exempt processors to sell beef directly to consumers within their state( with some reporting and labeling requirements.)
• Expansion of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States( CFIUS) to include the Secretary of Agriculture in certain transactions involving agricultural land.
NCBA strongly supports the House version because it delivers essential programs and tools for cattle producers without imposing harmful policies. NCBA also successfully opposed amendments that would have weakened disease traceability efforts, undermined the Beef Checkoff, or advanced activistdriven initiatives targeting animal agriculture.
Senate Status The Senate Agriculture Committee, led by Chairman John Boozman( R-Ark.), failed to advance its Farm Bill in August. Senator Mitch McConnell( R-Ky.) was absent due to health concerns, resulting in an 11-11 tie vote. While committee members can vote by proxy, proxy votes cannot be used as the deciding vote to report legislation out of committee. As a result, the bill remains stalled.
The Senate proposal is largely similar to the House version but includes a Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling( MCOOL) amendment championed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune( R-S. D.).
The amendment directs the U. S. Trade Representative and USDA to identify a trade-compliant pathway for implementing MCOOL within 180 days of enactment. If they fail to do so, USDA would be required to implement MCOOL within one year, regardless of the trade consequences.
NCBA policy opposes MCOOL, as the organization believes it is unnecessary and would create more challenges than benefits for several reasons:
• MCOOL was previously federal law from 2009-2015 and failed to provide consumers with meaningful or reliable information.
• The program increased costs throughout the beef supply chain and contributed to further consolidation.
• MCOOL violated U. S. trade obligations with Canada and Mexico and exposed U. S. producers to retaliatory tariffs.
• USDA ' s updated " Product of USA " label addresses consumer labeling concerns without reviving MCOOL.
What’ s Next? For the Senate bill to advance, Chairman Boozman must reconvene the committee and hold another vote. If approved, the Senate would consider the legislation on the floor before entering a conference committee with the House. The House and Senate versions would then be reconciled into a single package for presidential consideration.
Trade
In recent months, attention has focused on the Trump administration’ s efforts to lower consumer beef prices by increasing imported beef supplies. NCBA believes this shift toward unilateral market access moves away from the administration’ s successful reciprocal trade strategy, which previously produced agreements designed to remove tariff and non-tariff barriers to U. S. beef exports.
Markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines continue to offer significant opportunities for U. S. beef. NCBA has urged the administration to prioritize reciprocal agreements that reduce trade barriers and allow American producers to compete on equal footing with exporters from Australia, Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand.
NCBA also strongly supports the U. S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement( USMCA), which replaced NAFTA during President Trump’ s first term. The agreement preserved duty-free beef trade with Canada and Mexico, two of the industry ' s most important export markets. During the July 2026 joint review of USMCA, the three countries opted not to extend the agreement outright, triggering annual
DIRECTIONS 2026 NATIONAL CATTLEMEN 9