2026 House Farm Bill Markup: What It Means for Greenhouse & Nursery Growers
The House Farm Bill Markup includes significant wins for specialty crop producers — including greenhouse and nursery operations. These provisions strengthen disaster protection, improve access to capital, expand research funding, modernize crop insurance, and increase regulatory certainty.
Stronger Disaster Protection (Tree Assistance Program – TAP)
• Expands eligibility to include trees, vines, and shrubs
• Recognizes plant pests as qualifying natural disasters
• Provides upfront payments to help restart production
• Establishes a standing disaster assistance framework
Impact: Faster recovery from freezes, hurricanes, pest outbreaks, and other catastrophic losses.
Improved Crop Insurance for Specialty Crops
- Creates a Specialty Crop Advisory Committee
- Directs development of new tools:
- Frost coverage
- Prevented planting coverage
- Greenhouse/nursery system coverage
- Revenue protection options
- Requires review of coverage limits for high-value crops
Impact: Risk management tools better aligned with greenhouse and nursery production realities.
Expanded Access to Capital
- Farm ownership loans increased to $1.75M
- Operating loans increased to $3M
- Microloan cap doubled to $100,000
- USDA financing up to 45% of land purchase price
- Streamlined loan approvals under $1M
Impact: Greater flexibility to expand acreage, upgrade facilities, invest in automation, and support succession.
Mechanization & Automation Investment
- $30M annually for specialty crop mechanization & automation research
- Enhanced Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI)
- Matching funds requirement may be waived
Impact: Accelerates innovation to address labor shortages and improve efficiency.
Pesticide & Regulatory Reform
- Requires economic analysis before EPA mitigation rules
- Establishes structured stakeholder consultation on ESA policies
- Mandates nationwide uniform pesticide labeling
- Protects growers who follow EPA-approved labels
Impact: Increased regulatory predictability and reduced compliance uncertainty.
Energy & Rural Development
- Expands Rural Energy for America Program (REAP)
- Increases rural broadband funding
Impact: Supports energy cost reduction and precision agriculture technology adoption.
Trade & Market Development
- Significant funding increases for export promotion (MAP/FMD)
- Specialty Crop Block Grants authorized through 2031
Impact: Strengthens domestic and international market access for specialty crops.
Trade & Market Development
- Significant funding increases for export promotion (MAP/FMD)
- Specialty Crop Block Grants authorized through 2031
Impact: Strengthens domestic and international market access for specialty crops.
Additional Tax & Financial Wins (H.R.1)
- Permanent Section 199A for farmer cooperatives
- Expanded Section 179 expensing
- Increased payment limits
- Capital gains deferral for farm succession
Impact: Improves after-tax profitability and supports generational transition planning.
Bottom Line
This House markup represents meaningful progress for greenhouse and nursery growers. It strengthens risk management, improves access to capital, supports innovation, enhances regulatory clarity, and invests in specialty crop competitiveness.
AmericanHort will continue advocating to protect and strengthen these provisions as the legislative process moves forward.