Agriculture
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The latest federal Farm Bill advanced out of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee on Thursday with a 34-17 vote.
Pennsylvania Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-08) is celebrating the inclusion of a provision he and a group of bipartisan lawmakers have pushed for over the last few months.
The Local Farmers Feeding Our Community Act effectively seeks to revive a program axed during the early months of the Trump administration. The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) saw the U.S. Department of Agriculture provide funds for states to pay farmers who supply food banks.
The LFPA was established in 2021 as part of the Biden Administration’s coronavirus pandemic response. Its termination drew criticism from Pennsylania Democrats and Republicans alike.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and state Agriculture Secretary Russel Redding pushed back after the program’s cancellation in March, 2025 resulted in $13 million set aside for Pennsylvania being frozen. Redding appealed, and Shapiro later sued. A district court dismissed the case, but Shapiro appealed the ruling in January.
“Congress has a responsibility to ensure farm policy works for those who grow, raise, and produce our nation’s food,” Bresnahan said in a press release Thursday. “I’m especially proud the Farm Bill includes my bipartisan bill, which will help those in need in our communities access healthy, fresh food produced by their neighbors.”
His bill would allow the USDA to send $200 million per year to states that make cooperative agreements with farmers who supply food banks. A quarter of those funds must be used to purchase from small- and mid-sized producers.
The proposed program has drawn praise from Feeding Pennsylvania CEO Julie Bancroft and Pennsylvania Farm Bureau President Chris Hoffman.
‘We are grateful for Congressman Bresnahan’s leadership on the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act in the Farm Bill,” Bancroft said in a statement shared by Bresnahan. “[It] will strengthen local farm economies and ensure all Pennsylvanians can put healthy, local food on their table.”
The Farm Bill, officially titled the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, includes Bresnahan’s Local Farmers Feeding Our Communities Act. It passed out of the House Agriculture Committee chaired by Pennsylvania Republican GT Thompson (R-15).
It still faces a vote before the full House and Senate before it can be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.
Less than two months into President Donald Trump’s second term, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it was cancelling a program that sent millions of dollars to Pennsylvania farmers who provide products to food banks.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) would remain fully funded and operational during any lapse in federal appropriations under legislation sponsored on Oct. 28 by U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA).
“Moms and babies should not go hungry because Washington cannot do its job,” Rep. Bresnahan said. “This shutdown has created major uncertainty for WIC participants and providers nationwide.”
The Trump Administration cancelled a $13 million contract for food aid in March.
Now, U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan is trying to pass new legislation to support food banks, farmers and lay the groundwork for the next nationwide agricultural bill, which he called ‘Farm Bill 2.0.’
The U.S. Farm Bill is a package of agricultural bills that range from supporting farmers to running the food stamps or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP).
U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-8, Dallas Twp., led a bipartisan group of his colleagues in introducing the Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act last week designed to boost the purchasing and distribution of local food.
The bill will help build stronger connections between local producers, and community food programs, expanding markets and improving access to healthy food for those in need.