Washington Roundup – November 2025
Shutdown Deal Includes Agriculture Appropriations and Farm Bill Extension
On November 12th, President Trump signed legislation ending the longest government shutdown on record. Democrats and Republicans had been at an impasse since the shutdown began, but negotiators were ultimately successful in getting a package to pass the Senate by a filibuster proof margin. The House quickly moved to approve the Senate legislation sending the bill to the White House for signature.
The legislation extends fiscal year 2025 funding levels through January 30th. In addition, three full-year appropriations bills, including agriculture appropriations, were included in the package. This means that USDA programs will be funded through the end of the fiscal year and not be vulnerable should negotiations breakdown again at the January 30th deadline.
Agricultural research funding is largely funded at previous year’s levels, with some small increases or decreases to select programs. For the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) most capacity programs are level funded, while the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) received $10 million reduction. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) received a small increase in overall funding, but several areas withing the overall budget were reduced, including decreases to livestock production and protection.
Below are funding levels for selected USDA research accounts:
- Hatch: $265 million (level funded)
- Smith-Lever: $325 million (level funded)
- AFRI: $435 million ($10 million decrease)
- Continuing Animal Health and Disease Research Program: $3 million ($1 million decrease)
- Ag Genome to Phenome: $2 million (level funded)
- ARS Salaries and Expenses: $1.793 billion ($5 million increase)
- ARS Building and Facilities: $60.6 million
- ERS: $90.6 million (level funded)
- NASS: $185 million (down $2.5 million)
The package also includes an extension of farm bill authorities not addressed in the One Big Beautiful Bill through September 30, 2026. This gives Congress additional time to work on reauthorizations and policy changes to “Farm Bill 2.0”. The shutdown slowed progress on the Farm Bill it appears that significant movement will not likely occur until 2026.
Additional details on the package can be found in the following links:
