America Needs a Farm Bill — Southern Colorado Is Counting on It

Op-ed: America Needs a Farm Bill — Southern Colorado Is Counting on It

By Jeremy Anderson

President & CEO, Farm Credit of Southern Colorado

Our country and our local economies depend on the Farm Bill. I recently advocated for the passage of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, and am encouraged by the crucial progress that was made when the U.S. House of Representatives passed this legislation. We now urge the Senate Agriculture Committee to build on this momentum, advance its own version of the legislation, and move it to the Senate floor for passage.

It’s time for the U.S. Senate to pass America’s Farm Bill and have it signed into law this year.

At Farm Credit of Southern Colorado, we provide capital to the farmers, ranchers, agribusinesses, and rural communities that help feed and fuel America. Across southern and eastern Colorado, producers are facing extraordinary pressure. Persistent drought conditions, volatile commodity markets, rising equipment and input costs, labor shortages, and uncertainty in global trade have created an increasingly difficult operating environment for local agriculture producers.

Since 2023, America’s farmers and rural communities have been left in limbo without a full, five-year Farm Bill. Temporary extensions and short-term relief measures have helped bridge the gap, but they are not a substitute for long-term certainty and stability. Producers need predictability to plan their operations, invest in the future, and continue providing the food and fiber our nation relies on every day.

A modern Farm Bill strengthens agriculture by improving the tools available to producers and the lenders who support them. Today’s agricultural economy looks dramatically different than it did even a decade ago. Farm operations have grown more complex, input costs have increased substantially, and access to capital is more important than ever. 

That’s why proposed updates to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s lending programs are so critical. Increasing Farm Service Agency direct and guaranteed loan limits and streamlining these programs would help producers access capital more efficiently and allow agricultural lenders to respond more quickly during challenging times. These changes are especially important for beginning farmers and ranchers, who continue to face significant barriers to entry in agriculture. 

Farm Credit of Southern Colorado recognizes this evolution and has invested heavily in our infrastructure to continue to enhance the customer-owner experience. We are calling on congress to do the same.

In Colorado, agriculture is more than an industry. It is the backbone of many rural communities. From potato farms in the San Luis Valley to cattle ranches and dryland farming operations across the Eastern Plains, agriculture supports local businesses, schools, healthcare systems, and entire local economies.

Supporting producers also means supporting the communities where they live and work. Rural Americans deserve access to quality healthcare facilities, childcare centers, schools, and infrastructure just like their counterparts in urban areas. Provisions within the Farm Bill that expand investment opportunities in rural community facilities would create meaningful benefits for communities across southern and eastern Colorado, where access to these services can often determine whether families and businesses stay and thrive in rural areas.

For more than a century, Farm Credit of Southern Colorado has been a trusted financial partner to rural Colorado. As a customer-owned cooperative, we reinvest our earnings back into the communities we serve, helping support long-term agricultural and rural prosperity throughout Colorado.

The stakes could not be higher. Farmers and ranchers are navigating one of the most challenging economic environments in recent memory, and continued delays only increase uncertainty for the people who keep America’s food system strong.

Colorado’s agricultural producers cannot afford to wait any longer.

I urge Colorado’s congressional delegation and their colleagues in the Senate to continue to work together and pass a strong, modern Farm Bill that supports producers, strengthens rural communities, and secures the future of American agriculture.