With the U.S. Senate's version of the Farm Bill stuck in negotiations, South Dakota farm groups want lawmakers to strengthen it.

The Senate released its version of the legislation, the Agricultural Act of 2026, in late June. Megan EisenVos, a community organizer with Dakota Rural Action, said Congress is moving forward, but the Senate draft doesn't do enough to help farmers.

"The Senate is not taking the necessary action to be bold in this moment of the crisis that our South Dakota and United States farmers are facing right now."

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EisenVos pointed to price instability and concerns about where markets will be, along with extreme weather challenges, including droughts and flooding.

The Senate Agriculture Committee hopes to mark up the draft this summer. That isn't scheduled yet because Senate Democrats are demanding the bill restore SNAP funding after H.R. 1, the Trump administration's budget bill, shifted billions of dollars in costs to state governments. So far, Senate Republicans are refusing.

Neither the Senate nor House bill includes mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef, and EisenVos said that's another letdown for South Dakota producers and consumers.

Proponents say the labeling isn't included due to concerns over international trade disputes. But EisenVos said they feel the reasoning goes deeper, and said the lack of transparency in labeling is tied to large corporations that control the meat industry.

"Producers that are doing everything right here in South Dakota deserve to have the ability to label – and should have the requirement on the processing side – to label U.S.- born, raised, processed meat for consumers to be able to know where their money is going."

EisenVos said it's hard to know what will happen with the Farm Bill in an election year. EisenVos feels people need to let their senators know what they'd like to see in the legislation.

"Especially as South Dakotans, we have an outsized voice in D.C. with our senator, John Thune, as the majority leader, and, on the ag committee, has a strong voice, and needs – in order to serve South Dakota farmers and communities best – needs to hear from us."

The current Farm Bill, which was passed in 2018 and extended several times, expires at the end of September.