The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee sent a new farm bill to the full Senate, the first major step toward replacing the measure that lapsed in 2023. A five-year law would give voluntary private-land conservation more lasting footing after several Conservation Title programs ran on yearly extensions once the 2018 bill expired.

The committee version tracks House language on Conservation Reserve Program changes and a new Forest Conservation Easement Program, adding to earlier funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Voluntary Public Access Habitat Incentive Program. The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation is still pressing for Conservation and Forestry titles that aid private and public lands and the fish and wildlife that hunters and anglers use.

The full Senate will now vote on the bill.