With the Farm Bill reauthorization now underway on Capitol Hill, small and mid-sized farmers — the backbone of the direct-sale movement — are watching closely. AgroChain surveyed over 800 platform farmers to understand what policy changes would most meaningfully shift outcomes on the ground. Their answers reveal a clear, pragmatic agenda.
The Survey: Who We Heard From
In December 2025, AgroChain invited its entire base of active farm sellers to participate in an anonymous policy priorities survey. Over 800 farmers responded — representing operations ranging from 2-acre specialty growers to 3,000-acre grain operations, across 44 states. The median respondent farms 85 acres and sells through at least one direct-to-buyer channel on the platform. 67% reported net farm income below $75,000.
The results were strikingly consistent across geography and operation type. While political affiliations varied, the policy asks coalesced around four core themes: market access, risk management tools that actually work for diversified operations, conservation program accessibility, and competition enforcement.
The last Farm Bill was written for the 5% of farms that produce 80% of commodity output. The rest of us — the 95% — have been farming around its edges.
— Diane Ritter, diversified vegetable farmer and AgroChain seller, VermontPriority #1: Market Access Beyond Commodities
AgroChain farmers overwhelmingly named "market access" as their top Farm Bill concern (78% rated it high priority). But they weren't talking about export promotion or trade aid — they want infrastructure for local and regional markets. Specifically, respondents want permanent funding for programs like the Local Agriculture Market Program (LAMP), which supports food hubs, farmers markets, and value-added processing facilities. And they want USDA procurement — especially for school meals — to favor local sourcing with simplified application processes.
Many respondents also called for a "Digital Market Access Grant" program that would subsidize small-farm participation in online direct-sale platforms. "It costs me nothing to sell on AgroChain," said one respondent, "but the cold storage and packing upgrades I needed to meet buyer requirements were all out-of-pocket. USDA cost-share for that specific step would change the game."
Priority #2: Risk Management That Works for Diversified Farms
Federal crop insurance is the Farm Bill's largest single expenditure, yet it largely excludes the growers who are AgroChain's core users. The program was designed for monoculture commodity production; a farmer growing 20 different vegetable varieties on 15 acres can't purchase a meaningful policy. 63% of survey respondents said they either didn't qualify for crop insurance or found the coverage so limited it wasn't worth the premium.
Farmers are asking Congress to expand Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) — a policy that insures diversified operations based on overall revenue rather than individual commodity prices — by increasing premium subsidies for small farms and simplifying the reporting requirements that currently make it onerous.
"I lost 40% of my tomato crop to a hailstorm last June. I had no coverage because my farm is 'too small and too mixed.' I applied for disaster assistance and was told the processing time is 10–14 months. That's not a safety net — that's a late condolence card." — Anonymous survey respondent, Missouri
Priority #3: Conservation Programs With the Door Open
The EQIP and CSP conservation programs are popular among AgroChain farmers, but accessing them is a full-time administrative job. 58% of respondents who tried to apply for conservation cost-share reported that the paperwork complexity was a "major barrier," and 41% said they'd been turned down due to insufficient technical assistance availability. Farmers want more funding for boots-on-the-ground conservation planners, shorter application windows, and a streamlined process for small-scale, high-impact practices like cover cropping and rotational grazing.
Priority #4: Real Competition Enforcement
The quietest but most intense feedback came on competition. Multiple respondents described markets where a single processor or buyer effectively dictated price. "The grain elevator knows I have nowhere else to sell," wrote one Iowa farmer. "That's not a market — that's a toll booth." AgroChain farmers overwhelmingly support strengthening the Packers and Stockyards Act to give USDA more authority to investigate and penalize anti-competitive practices in agricultural markets, including the use of retaliatory contract provisions and discriminatory pricing.
The Bottom Line: A Farm Bill for the 95%
The 2026 Farm Bill will be shaped by powerful lobbies representing commodity groups and large-scale operations. But the voices from AgroChain's survey paint a different picture: a base of independent, diversified, direct-to-market farmers who don't want handouts — they want the structural barriers that advantage scale over efficiency to be leveled. Whether Congress listens is an open question.
