Congress Is Entering the Most Critical Stage of the 2026 Farm Bill

The Senate Agriculture Committee has released its draft of the 2026 Farm Bill. While several controversial animal-related proposals were not included in the Chairman’s base text, the legislative process is far from over.

As the bill advances through committee consideration, Senate debate, and ultimately Conference Committee negotiations with the House of Representatives, lawmakers may offer amendments that could significantly expand federal authority over lawful animal ownership, breeding, exhibition, agriculture,  and other regulated animal enterprises.

For those involved in agriculture, animal breeding, equine businesses, working animals, livestock production, exhibitions, wildlife conservation, and responsible animal ownership, this is the time to engage with Congress.

Positive Provisions Included in the Senate Draft

The current Senate Agriculture Committee draft contains several provisions that many organizations support, including:

• Additional resources for USDA enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act.
• Modernized electronic health documentation requirements for imported dogs to help protect animal and public health.
• Continued support for programs that allow victims of domestic violence to seek shelter without abandoning their pets.
• Expansion of USDA detector dog training programs that protect American agriculture from invasive pests and diseases.

These provisions generally strengthen existing federal programs without fundamentally changing the structure of the Animal Welfare Act.

Farm Bill Amendments We’re Watching Closely

Although the following proposals are not currently included in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft, organizations on both sides of these issues are actively lobbying Congress as the Farm Bill moves forward.

The Cavalry Group is closely monitoring the following proposals because of their potential impact on lawful animal enterprises.

Better CARE for Animals Act (H.R.3112/S.1538)

The Better Collaboration, Accountability, and Regulatory Enforcement (CARE) for Animals Act is extremely deceptive. While this legislation claims to strengthen the enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) by engaging and collaborating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to take civil action against violators, this legislation raises significant concerns for those in the animal enterprise community licensed by USDA.

The DOJ has little experience in animal welfare and primarily focuses on criminal violations, increasing the risk of punitive enforcement without improving animal care standards and gives the DOJ unprecedented power to file charges, seize animals, and impose penalties even if the USDA has not identified any AWA violations.

While the USDA Animal Care division is supposed to take a compliance-based approach, offering correction periods, the DOJ operates within a litigation-first mindset which would lead to immediate injunctions, license revocations, civil penalties up to $10,000 per day per violation, and the seizure and forfeture of animals.

Additionally, animal rights groups could use this legislation, if passed, to pressure DOJ through lawsuit or lobbying to pursue cases based on animal rights ideological motives and use this process to politicize enforcement, favoring activist-driven interpretations of “animal welfare” instead of science-based agriculture or animal husbandry standards.

The DOJ’s involvement brings prosecutorial authority potential for misinterpretation and overreach that could negatively impact lawful, responsible animal owners and businesses.

Goldie’s Act (H.R.349)

Goldie’s Act would substantially change how Animal Welfare Act violations are classified and enforced.

The Cavalry Group has expressed concern that this legislation blurs the distinction between minor administrative deficiencies (like paperwork and record keeping) and genuine animal welfare violations while expanding an inspector’s discretion regarding emergency enforcement actions.

Puppy Protection Act (H.R.2253)

This misguided legislation proposes sweeping amendments to the Animal Welfare Act, establishing new federal mandates that would significantly restrict lawful dog breeding operations across the U.S.—regardless of their existing compliance, ethics, or breed-specific standards.

While intended to improve animal welfare, many breeders, veterinarians, and industry organizations believe these one-size-fits-all mandates fail to account for differences among breeds, veterinary recommendations, climate, facility design, and individualized animal care.

The Puppy Protection Act is another piece of legislation driven by animal rights groups which seek to tighten the noose on the dog breeding industry and regulation them out of business.

Greyhound Protection Act (H.R. 5017)

This Is Not a Gambling Bill. It Is an Animal Rights Bill. H.R. 5017 is not germane to the Farm Bill and must be stopped.

While H.R.5017 was not included in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft language, we still must be watchful to make sure it doesn’t make it’s way back into the final version.

Although aimed primarily at commercial greyhound racing, The Cavalry Group contends that this legislation could extend beyond racing and impact lawful greyhound breeders and other longstanding industries surrounding the greyhound racing industry.

Animal rights organizations have been transparent about their long-term goal to the eliminate commercial breeding and the use of animals in sport, industry, and agriculture. Greyhound Racing is one more target in that broader campaign. We have seen the same organizations pursue identical strategies against rodeo, horse-drawn carriages, animal exhibitions, pet breeders, and other working animal industries. Their tactics change; their goal does not.

FIGHT Act (S.1454/H.R.3946)

The FIGHT Act (Fighting Inhumane Gambling and High-Risk Trafficking Act) is being promoted as legislation to combat illegal animal fighting. While animal fighting is already prosecuted under existing law, this bill reaches far beyond those who commit criminal acts.

Across the country, lawful gamefowl breeders are increasingly being treated as suspects simply because they raise and sell gamefowl. Many of these breeders have spent decades developing bloodlines for legal domestic and international markets. They operate legitimate businesses, comply with federal and state regulations, and export birds to countries where gamefowl are lawfully bred for exhibition, breeding, cultural purposes, and other legal activities.

Among the most significant concerns is language that would establish, for the first time, a private right of action under the Animal Welfare Act while expanding confiscation and forfeiture authority, including the potential forfeiture of real property.

Many legal and industry organizations believe this would create a new federal litigation pathway that could be used by activist organizations to initiate lawsuits, impose costly discovery demands, seek attorneys’ fees, pressure lawful businesses into settlements, and expand activist-driven enforcement outside the traditional authority of USDA and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Critics also warn that establishing a private enforcement model under one section of the Animal Welfare Act could create a precedent for future efforts to expand similar litigation authority to other lawful animal enterprises. Over time, that model could be applied to licensed breeders, exhibitors, kennels, livestock producers, research facilities, hunting dog trainers, rodeos, fairs, zoos, field trials, wildlife management activities, and other regulated animal industries.

The Cavalry Group believes that criminal animal fighting should continue to be prosecuted aggressively under existing law while preserving USDA oversight, due process protections, and consistent federal enforcement rather than creating new opportunities for private litigation against lawful animal enterprises.

SAFE Act (H.R.1661/S.775)

The SAFE Act would prohibit the transport of horses across U.S. borders for slaughter and effectively eliminate the existing export pipeline to processing facilities in Canada and Mexico.

Supporters argue the legislation addresses concerns about the slaughter of American horses. Opponents argue it does not solve the underlying issues surrounding unwanted or neglected horses and instead risks increasing abandonment, neglect, and financial hardship for horse owners while limiting end-of-life management options.

The Cavalry Group remains concerned that the SAFE Act could have significant unintended (and intended) consequences for the equine industry and is closely monitoring any effort to attach it to the Farm Bill through the amendment process.

Critical Timing

The Farm Bill is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation affecting agriculture and animal industries in the United States.

While committee drafts establish the framework, amendments offered during committee consideration, Senate floor debate, or conference negotiations can dramatically change the final legislation.

Congress needs to hear directly from the individuals who responsibly care for animals every day, operate lawful businesses, comply with existing regulations, and contribute to America’s agricultural economy.

Your firsthand experience provides an important perspective that lawmakers need before voting on amendments that could reshape federal animal policy for years to come.

Take Action Today

We encourage you to respectfully contact your U.S. Senators and ask them to:

• Support the Senate Agriculture Committee’s base Animal Welfare Act provisions.
• Carefully evaluate any amendments that would significantly expand federal authority under the Animal Welfare Act.
• Oppose amendments that weaken due process protections or create new avenues for private activist litigation.
• Carefully consider the long-term impacts of proposals such as the Better CARE for Animals Act, Goldie’s Act, the Puppy Protection Act, the Greyhound Protection Act, the FIGHT Act, and the SAFE Act before including them in the Farm Bill.
• Continue relying on sound science, veterinary expertise, practical animal husbandry, and existing enforcement authorities when considering changes to federal law.

The Cavalry Group will continue monitoring every stage of the Farm Bill and will immediately notify members as amendments are filed and considered.

We urge you to send a message or phone call to your U.S. Senators today.

Click HERE find your U.S. Senators.