Policy Updates and Issue News August 2026
Agriculture and Food
Grange urges passage of the Senate farm bill
The National Grange joined 263 farm, ranch, food, conservation, research, education, rural, and other groups to urge the Senate Agriculture Committee to expeditiously pass the Agriculture Act of 2026 in a bipartisan manner. The letter to Chairman Boozman (R-AR) and Ranking Member Klobuchar (D-MN) highlighted the significant pressures facing U.S. agriculture and the urgent need for a farm bill to get across the finish line to provide certainty and support for America’s farmers and ranchers. The Committee failed to reach that milestone, however, amid a partisan feud over Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provisions. Negotiations continue, and another attempt to pass the farm bill is expected in September after the Senate returns from its August recess.
House budget package with ag aid heads to the Senate
The House passed a $95 billion budget measure, or “reconciliation 3.0,” which includes around $12 billion to help the struggling ag sector. The package also includes funds for the war in Iran and the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to vote in federal elections. Its future in the Senate may be shaky as Majority Leader Thune (R-SD) looks for a strategy to fund the government beyond September and avoid a government shutdown,
Secretary Rollins proclaims National Farmers Market Week
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signed a proclamation recognizing August 2-8, 2026, as National Farmers Market Week. She called on Americans to make the week a nationwide celebration by visiting and supporting their local farmers markets. Observed the first full week of August annually, National Farmers Market Week recognizes the important role farmers markets play in strengthening local communities, creating new market opportunities for producers, and connecting consumers with fresh, American-grown food.
Harvest to Hallways for schools
The USDA and HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) will invest $70 million in cafeteria infrastructure, $25 million to incorporate locally produced foods into child nutrition programs, and $30 million in research to identify practical, cost-effective ways to improve the quality of school meals under their new Harvest to Hallways Initiative.
Ag Workforce
Massive support for House ag labor bill
The National Grange and over 460 state and national organizations signed a letter to all members of the House in support of the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act, H.R. 9535. This bipartisan legislation was drafted and introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) to reform the outdated H-2A program. Given the increasing unavailability of domestic workers, the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program is the only option for many agricultural producers to secure the workers they need. The cosigners urged the House to pass the bill swiftly. H-2A is costly, administratively burdensome, slow, and was designed for larger producers who need large numbers of workers. The Grange is disappointed that the legislation did not include a program outside H-2A for smaller producers who need only a few workers. A new program lacked the political will for such a debate, plus it was opposed by the administration.
Ag worker bill opens GOP rift
Immigration hawks are crying “betrayal” of the party’s immigration agenda and are mobilizing President Trump’s base to tank the years-long effort aimed at helping farmers secure scarce labor as introduced by Chairman Thompson. Many objectors are referring to the effort as granting amnesty to undocumented immigrants, a claim that Thompson readily rejects. For now, President Trump and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), whose panel has jurisdiction over the bill, are noncommittal on Thompson’s legislation.
Health Care
Hamp urges approval of cancer screening technology
National Grange president Chris Hamp filed comments with FDA’s Molecular and Clinical Genetics Panel to support the approval of the cancer screening Galleri technology. Established screening programs exist for a limited number of cancers. Galleri can detect dozens of cancers at early stages with a simple blood draw. Early diagnosis and treatment of cancer is vital to patient recovery. Hamp pointed out that cancer is one area where geography, distance, and time continue to matter far too much. Cancer centers are not in rural areas. Commuting to distant cancer centers for treatment after the disease has progressed creates major upheavals for the patient and the patient’s family, time commitment, business, expenses, caregivers, and quality of life.
Grange calls on Congress to approve ASAP Act
The National Grange joined a large cross-section of healthcare groups and the Alzheimer’s community to urge Congress to pass the bipartisan Alzheimer’s Screening and Prevention Act (H.R. 6130 and S. 3267). The legislation would ensure timely access to innovative biomarker tests that can detect Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia in their earliest stages. The current regulatory process can delay Medicare coverage for years after screening tests receive Food and Drug Administration approval.
Grange addresses end-stage renal disease
In a letter to Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, National Grange President Chris Hamp called for CMS to reverse a recent policy that bundles phosphate-lowering therapies with all other dialysis center services. Rural kidney patients are left navigating a system where geography, provider access, and food insecurity compound one another. Managing blood phosphorus levels is a life-or-death consideration that can be managed by the kidney patient’s own local doctor without having to travel for hours for mandatory in-center treatments.
Grange joins Hill briefing panel
National Grange’s Burton Eller joined American Cancer Society and Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease panelists for a congressional briefing on emerging cancer treatment innovations. Many cancer therapies depend upon hours-long intravenous infusions at a major cancer center. Now, it is possible to treat several cancers with subcutaneous injections at a local doctor’s office. Approval of targeted subcutaneous injection cancer treatments will save rural cancer patients considerable time, expense, travel distance, and fatigue.
Telecommunications
GAO says broadband access is improving
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee that broadband has improved over the last four years despite continuing issues with interagency coordination. In 2022, GAO found significant fragmentation in rural broadband programs. There are 130 federal broadband programs administered by 15 agencies. GAO found that this myriad of programs created a fragmented, overlapping patchwork of funding that could lead to wasteful duplication of funding and effort. GAO noted that it had previously recommended agency coordination and collaboration to understand what each agency is doing, where it is deploying broadband, and whether it is leveraging resources to bring communities up to speed. Progress has been made, but the recommendations have not been fully implemented. The largest agencies administering broadband programs are the USDA, the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the Department of the Treasury.
Of Interest
Work requirements kick in, SNAP enrollment drops
Enrollment in the largest federally funded food aid program dropped more than 13% in a 12-month span, a decline far steeper than the government estimated for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Another SNAP impact is expected when states are required to pay part of the cost of benefits if their error rate (when recipients receive more or less than they should) is above 6%. These requirements, an attempt to initiate welfare reform, were part of the President’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last year.
Did data centers creep up on rural communities?
Rural America is rapidly becoming the next frontier for digital infrastructure, and the scale of the transformation is without modern precedent. According to Pew Research Center, 67% of the approximately 1,500 data centers now in various stages of development are planned for rural locations. Of these, 39% of planned projects are targeting counties that currently have no data centers. Grange members are encouraged to become engaged with their county governments and local planning bodies as data center expansion comes to fly-over country. Data centers are necessary to support the country’s technology explosion. The issue is not whether we must deal with data centers, but it’s how to deal with them. This is a local issue, and Grange members have the opportunity to help shape their community’s future.
Perspectives on Friendship
“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
“‘Tis a great confidence in a friend to tell him your faults, greater to tell him his.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
“A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.” ~ Maya Angelou
“A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.” ~ Winnie the Pooh