Bill expands farm payments for manure handling practices.
S. 5309 — COWS Act of 2026 · Filed by Alex Padilla (D-CA) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Aug 6, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill adds a new type of payment to a farm program. Farmers who use new manure handling methods can get money to pay for them. These methods include composting, rotating grazing areas, solid separation, and solar drying. Farmers can get up to 100% of costs paid. At least half gets paid upfront. Contracts last up to 3 years.
Who it affects
Dairy farmers and livestock farmers can apply for payments. Small and medium-sized farms, new farmers, and farmers from groups that faced discrimination get priority. The public may see better water quality and lower farm gases.
One thing to notice
The bill lets the Secretary waive payment limits for these manure handling contracts if needed. Some farmers could get more total money than the law normally allows.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Aug 6, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Aug 6, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- manure handling — Ways to manage animal waste on farms.
- farm gases — Gases released from farms that trap heat in the atmosphere.
- water quality — How clean and safe water is.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (9,602 characters) on Aug 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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