While the farm bill debate in the U.S. Senate has tended to be rather bipartisan in nature, that has not been the case in the U.S. House of Representatives, at least not in recent memory. Invariably, at some point in the farm bill debate, the minority party in the House will accuse the majority party of “partisanship” that will “bring about the end of the bipartisan coalition needed to pass a farm bill.” In this article, we examine these claims in the context of voting history on the farm bill in the House over the last 40 years.
As noted in Figure 1, the 1985 and 1990 Farm Bills both had a significant share of minority (i.e., Republican) votes on the House version of the farm bill along with the conference agreement. With the Democrats in the minority for the 1996 Farm Bill – after having been in the majority in the House for 40 years – they accounted for just 20% of the “yes” votes on the House version of the farm bill but ultimately accounted for one-third of the “yes” votes on the conference report. The 2002 Farm Bill was very bipartisan in nature with the minority (i.e., Democrats) accounting for roughly half the “yes” votes on both the House version and conference report.
The significant departure came in the 2008 Farm Bill when Democrats regained control of the House. For the 2008 Farm Bill, the minority (i.e., Republicans) accounted for just 8% of the “yes” votes on the House version of the farm bill. Despite the partisan nature of the House version of the farm bill, Republicans ultimately accounted for 32% of the “yes” votes on the conference agreement. That dynamic persisted (and became even more pronounced) in the 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, with the minority (i.e., Democrats) not voting for the House version of the bill in either case but accounting for 35% and 51% of the “yes” votes on the conference report, respectively. Notably, for the 2018 Farm Bill, more Democrats than Republican voted “yes” on the conference report, following the mid-term elections that resulted in Democrats retaking the House.
Bottom line: accusations of “partisanship” threatening to “end the bipartisan coalition needed to pass a farm bill” generally falls on deaf ears as partisanship around the House version of the farm bill has become standard operating procedure, largely starting with the 2008 Farm Bill. Despite the rocky process in the House, the final version of the farm bill reported out of the conference between the House and Senate continues to be widely bipartisan.
Figure 1. Voting History on the Farm Bill, U.S. House of Representatives a/Passed by voice vote
| Farm Bill | Minority Party in House | Minority Share of House Seats | Minority Share of Yes Votes (House-Drafted Farm Bill) | Minority Share of Yes Votes (Conference Report) |
| Food Security Act of 1985 | Republican | 42% | 35% | 40% |
| Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 | Republican | 40% | a/ | 37% |
| Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 | Democrat | 47% | 20% | 33% |
| Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 | Democrat | 49% | 48% | 49% |
| Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 | Republican | 46% | 8% | 32% |
| Agricultural Act of 2014 | Democrat | 46% | 0% | 35% |
| Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 | Democrat | 45% | 0% | 51% |
Fischer, Bart L., and Joe Outlaw. “Just How Bipartisan are Farm Bills?” Southern Ag Today 5(23.4). June 5, 2025. Permalink
