Advocacy Action Alert: Tell Your Representatives to Vote NO on the 2026 Farm Bill
April 28, 2026
Take action to influence both federal and state level legislation!
Federal
Seven years into what is supposed to be a five year process, the House Farm, Food, and National Security Act favors Big Ag, and not family farms in countless ways. Of specific interest to CT NOFA are pesticide industry provisions that would strip states and cities of their power to regulate certain pesticides and would shield the manufacturers from liability.
Actions
- Write or call your Congressional Representative, and tell them to vote NO on the Farm Bill. You can find contact information for your Representative here. Want to know more? Beyond Pesticides explains pesticide provisions in detail.
- Join the National Family Farm Coalition’s sign-on messaging
Connecticut
The legislative session will be ending at midnight on May 6. Many, many bills will get left behind and have to wait another year.
Waiting for action now in the State Senate
- The CT Environmental Rights Amendment (SJ 37). Would put the rights to clean and healthy air, water, soil, ecosystems and environment into the state constitution.
Waiting for action now in the State House
- Pesticide Reporting Modernization Act (HB 5155) — Would likely be a working group on making information on pesticide use in Connecticut available to the public, with strong participation from advocates for pesticide reform (including NOFA!)
- Waste Management (HB 5524). Would eliminate styrofoam packaging from restaurants and other extra stuff except on request, would increase requirements for donating leftover food and composting food waste.
- Climate Superfund Act (HB 5156). Also known as Make Polluters Pay. Would require fossil fuel companies to pay for adaptation to climate change — including for damage to crops and farms from weather disasters
- Solar Bill (HB 5340). Broad solar bill reauthorizing many of the programs encouraging solar. Support the bill, but also ask for more involvement of the Department of Agriculture in Agrivoltaics (projects combining solar with agriculture) to make sure that there is a strong agriculture component.
Waiting for action now in the Appropriations Committee
- Ask for $2 million to fund the Land, Capital, Markets Access program, helping beginning farmers get access to land and capital to start and build their farms. This can come from the state funds set aside to replace Federal budget cuts.
Action
Reach out to your state legislators to let them know your opinion on any and all of these bills. You can find your state legislators, using this handy website.
Recent Posts
Advocacy News: May 2026
The Good News: CT Senator Chris Murphy has introduced a bill (bipartisan and bicameral) to increase funding for Agricultural Management Assistance to $30 million and to expand the eligible uses for these funds to include “soil health improvements, composting, implementing organic farming, and food safety certification in addition to existing authorized uses such as water management structure and soil erosion control.” Let’s thank Senator Murphy for introducing this bill!
The Bad News: The Farm Bill passed the House of Representatives on April 30, despite 320 food, farm, and conservation organizations, including CT NOFA, voicing our opposition to a bill that does not fix SNAP, does not support new and beginning farmers, and does not adequately support conservation programs or organic agriculture. Now it goes to the Senate and we need to urge both of Connecticut’s Senators to reject this Farm Bill.
Our Vision for a Future of Resilient, Plentiful, Healthy and Locally-Grounded Farming and Food
In concluding its annual retreat, the Northeast Organic Farming Association Interstate Council (NOFA IC) reaffirms the values that have grounded our work for 55 years.
Our vision is that every person is able to live their life with healthy food, clean water and air, community, livelihood, dignity, and purpose within the means of our life-giving planet. We seek that vision on every level, from our households and farms to our communities, states, bioregions, nation, and world. For that vision to be fulfilled, every person, no matter their origin or circumstances, must have all their basic human needs met without degrading the air, water, soil, ecosystems, and climate which we have been given and on which we depend for our lives.